GST, 1MDB "fully exploited" in polls, says Muhyiddin

MILAN: People want concrete answers and prompt actions from the Government over issues raised, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The deputy prime minister said the people wanted the Government to take their views seriously and not to trivialise them.

"We have to look at new approaches in handling issues of the people," he told the Malaysian media here, when asked on the lessons to be learnt from the by-elections in Rompin and Permatang Pauh recently.

In the people's view, the issues must be addressed quickly and should not be allowed to prolong, said Muhyiddin, who is making an official three-day working visit to Italy.

"This means every issue raised by the people to the government should be managed and tackled promptly, whether with a solution or improvement," he said.

Barisan retained the Rompin parliamentary seat in the by-election on May 5 but lost the Permatang Pauh constituency on May 7.

Among the current issues raised during the by-elections were the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Muhyiddin said feedback from the people showed they wanted the government to respond quickly in line with real time information found on social websites.

"In the view of the people, taking a defensive attitude does not help in the long term. In fact there should be an offensive approach with ready answers for the people," he said.

Asked on the initial Barisan analysis on the Permatang Pauh by-election results, he said the exploitation of such issues raised by the opposition was the reason for Barisan's loss.

Initial analysis found the people were not attracted by issues of development highlighted during the campaign. Instead they focused more on current issues.

The failure of Barisan to reply to current issues such as 1MDB was fully exploited by the opposition.

Muhyiddin said an overall analysis of the by-election results should be made to prevent it from becoming a trend which could affect the general election results in future. - Bernama