BY: NAZLI IBRAHIM
KUALA LUMPUR, OCT 24: The 2017 Budget that was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently has been labelled as a manipulative budget and not a responsible budget as it tries to woo the rakyat for their votes in the upcoming general elections.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that the move will have a negative effect on the rakyat and the country.
“Isn’t it possible that our country is not truly a medium-to-high income country but actually a highly corrupted country? Isn’t it possible that the budget announced today not a responsible budget but a manipulative budget, filled with all sorts of tricks?
“This is because almost everything in the budget is geared towards fooling the rakyat with ‘treats’. Let us not forget the Malay proverb “mati semut kerana gula, mati ikan kerana umpan’.
“In the end, those who will bear the burden, those who will suffer trying to pay taxes, those who will be called to be prudent, those who will reduce their spending, those who will have to beg, borrow, to settle the ballooning national debt, those who have to pay GST are the rakyat,” she said.
Azizah said this while debating the 2017 Budget at the Dewan Rakyat.
She said that Najib’s suggestion urging the rakyat to be prudent in their spending, eating at mamak stalls and to become Uber drivers to increase their incomes is proof that the government is taking advantage of the rakyat’s sacrifice to cover up their mismanagement of the country’s economy.
Responsible or manipulative budget?
