KUALA LUMPUR: PKR MP Dr Lee Boon Chye says he was confident that Pakatan Harapan would win in GE14, contrary to a recently reported statement by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The Gopeng MP and Deputy Health Minister said he was confident even before Nomination Day.
“We looked at the numbers before the election, at Barisan Nasional's popularity and it had never been so low,” he told a press conference after launching the World Federation of Neurological Societies (WFNS) Symposia 2018 on Friday (Aug 17).
“This time around, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak received 40% to 45% of the popular vote. Looking at the figures, we were confident we were going to make it,” added Dr Lee.
On Monday (Aug 13), Malaysiakini reported that Dr Mahathir had said in a closed-door meeting that Pakatan had made too many election promises because it did not expect to win the May 9 general election.
Dr Lee however said that Pakatan did not expect the country's debt to be much more than the officially announced RM680bil debt.
He added that it would have been easier for Pakatan to implement whatever programmes it had promised if that had truly been the figure.
Pakatan says that the actual debt is at RM1 trillion.
Dr Lee said the Finance Ministry discovered many “black holes”, including the 1Malaysia Development Berhad debt.
“There were also other black holes such as the commitments to the East Coast Rail Link and High Speed Rail (projects), which have severe financial implications on the government.
“Unless we have a way of reviewing the contracts and cutting down the cost, we will not be able to finance some of the promises in our manifesto,” he said.
Dr Lee added that it was important that institutional reforms be carried out to cut out future leakage and manage the economy.
“After that, we should be able to implement those measures which we promised in the manifesto,” he said.Did you find this article insightful?
