Malaysia 'will go bankrupt' if PAS wins: Minister
Malaysia 'will go bankrupt' if PAS wins: Minister
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's party yesterday warned voters that Malaysia's rapid development and rich economy could be brought to ruin if the opposition was elected to power in polls this month.
Hitting out at the tax-cutting and spending pledges made by the fundamentalist Moslem Parti Islam (PAS), Law Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia would be faced with a major financial crisis which could lead to it "heading the Mexico way" if the PAS was to run the country.
"We will go bankrupt, like Mexico, if PAS is to run the economy the way it has pledged. The country's coffers will dry up in no time," Syed Hamid said.
"They will not be able to sustain the existing financial resources, much less have any savings at all if they were to cut all those taxes and other revenues as promised in their manifesto," said Syed Hamid, a senior official in Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
UMNO, the country's largest political party is the linchpin of the 14-member National Front coalition.
Voting for 192 parliamentary seats and 394 seats in 11 state legislatures in the country's ninth general elections is set for April 25.
Mahathir's National Front is almost certain to retain its two- thirds majority in parliament, but is not taking any chances in the critical states like northern Penang and northeastern Kelantan and Trengganu, officials said.
The buoyant economy is a great boost for the ruling coalition.
The PAS, which draws much of its support from conservative ethnic Malay Moslems in the northern Malay belt states of Kelantan -- the only opposition-led state in the country -- as well as Trengganu, Kedah and Perlis, has almost always finished second-best to Mahathir's UMNO.
The Moslem party, which won Kelantan in the 1990 polls, unveiled a 14-point manifesto at the weekend that pledged to cut taxes and other revenues and to "save" Malaysians from the present secular government.
It pledged to abolish or review all so-called repressive laws, including the Internal Security Act, the Official Secrets Act, and University Colleges Act.
Vowing to "place the interest of Malaysians above that of foreigners," PAS said it would repeal moves to privatize education.
Syed Hamid said the manifesto was "cooked up" by PAS to fish for votes without considering the national interest.
In Penang, Mahathir told a 12,000-odd rally in driving rain late Sunday that the country's development could grind to a halt if the opposition was elected to power.
"If you decide to change your government, and have a different form of government, then everything will come to a stop," Mahathir said.
Analysts said the high-powered rally in Penang, one of the most industrialized states, signaled the coalition's concern over the opposition threat in the state. Penang is a traditional stronghold of the opposition Democratic Action Party.