Muhyiddin: Govt to make announcement on highway tolls soon

SEMENYIH: As the March 2 polls draws closer, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has hinted that the Cabinet might be making an announcement in regards to highway tolls.

Muhyiddin said the Cabinet had on numerous occasions discussed ways to address bread-and-butter issues faced by Malaysians.

“It isn’t easy to solve certain problems, but we did not abandon our responsibilities. Many people criticise us for not fulfilling our manifesto pledges.

"Maybe there are one or two issues such as tolls.

“We just discussed this in the Cabinet. Maybe in a day or two, Pakatan Harapan will have a statement regarding tolls,” he said.

“I can’t give any statement because the minister involved will be making an announcement,” he added.

Muhyiddin, who’s also the Home Minister, was speaking during his speech at a ceramah for the Semenyih by-election on Thursday (Feb 21) night.

Muhyiddin, however, declined to reveal further details when pressed by the media shortly after his speech ended.

Meanwhile, PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution, who spoke at the same ceramah, expressed confidence towards Pakatan’s ability to retain the Semenyih state seat.

According to Saifuddin, PKR members involved in the election machinery had made telephone surveys recently and found that a majority of Semenyih voters were likely to cast their vote for Pakatan on March 2.

“We have 18,000 names and phone numbers of voters in this area. We also have 30 individuals making phone calls.

“We've called them every day since the first day (of campaigning),” he said.

“God willing, we can expect that on March 2, Semenyih will be ours,” he added.

The Semenyih by-election is set to see a four-cornered fight between Pakatan, Barisan Nasional, Parti Sosialis Malaysia and an independent candidate.

The by-election was called in Semenyih following the death of Bersatu assemblyman Bakhtiar Mohd Nor on Jan 11.

Bakhtiar, who was also the Semenyih Bersatu division chief, garnered 23,428 votes against then incumbent Datuk Johan Abdul Aziz of Barisan, who got 14,464 votes. PAS candidate Mad Shahmiour Mat Kosim received 6,966 votes while PSM's S. Arutchelvan got 1,293 votes.