Hadi blames current economic woes on Pakatan leaders

PETALING JAYA: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has blamed the economic problems faced by the country on the leaders of the 1980s, who are now in Pakatan Harapan.

He said PAS, which will be launching its manifesto tomorrow, would present the Government with a solution.

“The woes faced by the country – whether by the Government or the people – are the legacy from the leaders who sit in Pakatan Harapan today. Those who have governed the country since the 1980s, they are the ones who created the problems.

“In fact, to me, Umno is now burdened with the woes they created. That’s why PAS introduced the concept of ta’awun – the concept of helping each other in important matters,” he said in a Facebook live session on Thursday.

A transcript of this was carried in Harakah Daily.

The woes started, he said, when the Government began to get involved in business in the 1980s and compete with the rakyat, leading to leakages as well as cronyism with the country’s wealth staying in the hands of the rich.

PAS, said Abdul Hadi, whose party split from the Opposition on acrimonious terms, was willing to come up with a solution to the Government.

“It’s not that we are greedy for power. In fact, we are open to the Government accepting our views. If we become Government, we will put into practice.

“If we don’t become Government, we can be adviser to the Government to correct the mistakes that have been done by Pakatan Harapan leaders,” he said.

Abdul Hadi said the Goods and Services Tax was only a temporary solution to the country’s economic woes, adding that a tax imposed on all without taking account of their income was an “emergency tax”.

“Is our economy in emergency? This has to be studied,” he said, adding that GST had curbed the problems of those who escaped from paying taxes.

“But unfortunately, it does not curb inflation and the rising cost of living is burden to the people,” he said, adding that despite GST being exempted from certain goods, a large component of costs – such as transport – was imposed with the tax.

This, he said, had resulted in traders having to increase their prices.

“PAS has its own solution besides imposing GST,” he said.