KUALA TERENGGANU: The state oil royalties for Terengganu were given back to the state when Pakatan Harapan was in power, says Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad.
“We gave them back a year after we became the government even though at that time, it was PAS who held the state, but we stand on our principles, which is to defend the people’s rights,” he said.
Raja Kamarul said that this was the first time since 1999 that the state's oil royalty payments had been given back to Terengganu.
The Terengganu Pakatan chairman then added that the coalition had proven itself during its short 22-month stint as the government of the day from 2018 to early 2020.
“We also continued to support the government led by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Even though our memorandum of understanding (to establish bipartisan cooperation) had expired, we continued to give him our support to not trouble the rakyat," he said.
Raja Kamarul said they had no issues with forming a mixed government, but their “partners” should only be those that could provide political stability in the long run.
“We have no issue. I think we may need to form a mixed government because I don't think there are any parties that can (solely form the government), but our choice of partners must be those who we believe can provide political stability in the long run,” he said.
Raja Kamarul also believed that the internal crisis faced by Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS, who dropped a number of their key leaders, would benefit Pakatan.
“This is our chance because we can offer an alternative.
“I believe that people are no longer loyal only to one party because their basic needs are being threatened. There is no stability despite promises given by both Barisan and PAS (parties that held Terengganu before and now),” he said.
Meanwhile, when asked about public criticism over Pakatan’s manifesto promise of abolishing tolls on Plus highways, Raja Kamarul believed that it is something that can be done with time.
“Toll is a big thing, and it is not something that can be abolished overnight. Within 22 months in power, we managed to reduce (toll rates) by almost 20%, which to me is significant, as we did that in less than two years,” he said.
