KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — A veteran Umno leader questioned today the sincerity of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s categorisation of Putrajaya’s annual cash hand-outs to lower-income Malaysians as “bribery”.

Sabah Umno leader Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak noted that Dr Mahathir’s attacks on the policies of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appeared to take place regardless of which communities the latter’s programmes such as the 1 Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) benefitted.

“Soon after the 2013 general election, Dr Mahathir accused the prime minister of pandering too much to the Chinese and of not giving enough attention to the Malays, who form the backbone of Umno’s support.

“Now, when the prime minister introduces BR1M, which goes to the needy, and hence benefits the Malays since more of them are amongst the needy group, the prime minister is accused of an attempt to bribe the people,” the Sabah Umno deputy liaison chief wrote in a statement today titled “Is the criticism of Najib sincere?”.

Salleh said he believed that Najib is open to suggestions, but noted that criticism including those against the prime minister should be “constructive” in nature and offered solutions to improve perceived weaknesses in the present system.

“I am sure the prime minister will be open to suggestions and if anyone, Dr Mahathir included, has a better idea on how aid can be given to the people, this new and better idea can be adopted to replace BR1M,” the Sabah Speaker said.

In the same statement, Salleh also said that no one has come forward with a better way for the Najib administration to distribute monetary support to help the public cope with rising cost of living.

“While some may be of the opinion that giving aid to the needy through BR1M is not the right way of doing things, none have offered their alternative proposal on how the people should receive aid and which they may consider the better way of doing things,” he said.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir wrote in a blog post that government cash aid through the BR1M system is akin to failed socialist and communist policies that will only make people dependent on the government and reduce their competitiveness.

The country’s longest-serving prime minister said increasing average income alone will not make Malaysia a developed nation, noting that it would be “even more misleading” when income raises are merely due to government hand-outs.

Dr Mahathir also pointed out that Malaysians are willing to endure rising living costs as long as the government spends their tax money on beneficial policies and good governance, saying: “Certainly they would not want their hard-earned money to be expended on winning popularity for anyone or political parties or administrations.”

“My primary objection is because hand-outs on such a scale look too much like bribery. And when this is given near elections or the manifesto promises this, the impression that it is about buying votes just cannot be dismissed,” Dr Mahathir added.

Prime Minister Najib increased the cash hand-out for households with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below from RM650 to RM950 next year, under the government’s Budget 2015 that was tabled last month.

The government cash aid has also been increased by RM300 for those with a monthly household income of between RM3,000 and RM4,000, who are set now to receive RM750.

Single adults earning less than RM2,000 each month will also receive RM350 next year, which is RM50 more than this year.

The BR1M scheme was rolled out in 2012, then covering only the households with less than RM3,000 monthly income with a cash aid of RM500.

In the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN)’s election manifesto last year, it pledged to gradually increase the BR1M hand-outs to RM1,200 in five years’ time.