JOHOR BARU, Jan 17 — The Johor Perikatan Nasional (PN) today questioned the federal government’s commitment to solving the bread and butter issues plaguing Malaysians, claiming that nothing much has been done in its first 50 days so far.
Johor PN chief Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal noted that both the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions had made much ado about the economic issues in their respective GE15 manifestos.
“Personally, I did not feel the immediate seriousness of the prime minister and PH administration’s seriousness in implementing the 10 priorities of the coalition’s 15th general election offer. This is not yet touching on BN’s pledge for the people.
“Among them are issues related to the cost of living. Until today, the cost of living still plagues the people. There are still voices demanding that the government allow the targeted release of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for another round.
“Then there is the endless issue of supply problems in the markets. The government had recently decided to import eggs from foreign countries to meet the local needs. However, the real issue is solving the internal problems faced by our own domestic producers,” he said in a statement.
The Bukit Kepong assemblyman was responding to the federal coalition government’s recent highlights of what it has achieved since it taking office last month.
He claimed the federal government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has nothing to crow about as it had done nothing to alleviate the citizens’ hardships.
Dr Sahruddin, who was formerly the Johor mentri besar, also claimed that PKR strategist Rafizi Ramli has yet to present a successful formula to restore Malaysia’s economy after being appointed the economic affairs minister.
He also hit out at the federal government for its decision to swap out past political appointees to government-linked corporations in a bid to curb cronyism, only to delay the appointments following public criticism.
He claimed a similar attitude can be seen in the ambitious East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project.
“The former BN minister stated that the final cost stood at RM50.27 billion. However, the prime minister said it was RM74.96 billion and it has been reduced compared to the original cost of RM85.97. So, which is the truth?” he asked.
Dr Sahruddin also questioned Anwar's promise to lower the price of petrol while on the election campaign trail, but claimed the PM had yet to do so.
He also accused the federal government of failing to make an effort to allay public concern about the health risk from the potential influx of visitors from China after Beijing ended its three-year long Covid-19 lockdown.
“Until now, this virus still exists in various variants and we need to learn from our past experiences. The dark period that the world and the country had to go through due to the Covid-19 pandemic has hampered us all.
“Being in the endemic phase, the government cannot take it lightly in determining health issues and public safety,” he said.
