Pakatan will fail and fall into despair for lying about GST, says Ahmad Maslan

BY YISWAREE PALANSAMY

DECEMBER 22, 2013

LATEST UPDATE: DECEMBER 22, 2013 07:07 PM

The opposition will "fail miserably and be left in despair" for spreading lies over the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in 2015, says Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan (pic).

"They will fail in their attempt and will be left in despair (merana) because they are lying to the people," he said.

Ahmad said the Government was merely trying to cut costs with the GST while the opposition kept rejecting the initiative.

"Why don’t they (Pakatan Rakyat) want GST? Because when prices of goods and services fall, the opposition will not have any fodder to hit out at the Government.

"All these while they associated Barisan Nasional (BN) with the jibe ‘Barang Naik’, but when the GST comes into force, they claim it will not work," he said in response to a report featured in the The Malaysian Insider today highlighting an anti-GST campaign spearheaded by Pakatan and several non-governmental organisations.

One of the campaign objectives is to counter Putrajaya's ongoing media blitz to promote the GST.

The Pakaran Rakyat roadshow is expected to deal on the current price hike and how people can expect the price of good and services to go up.

Last Thursday, MCA had also urged Putrajaya to revise the contentious GST from the proposed 6% to 4%, as the consumption tax has angered many in the country.

"When the GST bill was first tabled in Parliament a few years ago, the proposed rate was 4%. So why has it been changed to 6%?" Datuk Wee Ka Siong said in his speech at the MCA Youth general assembly today.

The outgoing youth chief also said the Federal Government needed to make detailed announcements on items that are exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will be implemented in April 2015.

Wee called on the government to study the effects of the GST, saying that many are unsure on how the consumption tax will be implemented or which items will be subjected to it.

"Will petrol, mixed rice and soap be subjected to GST? Will people be subjected to GST from morning to night, starting from breakfast until dinner as well as skincare items used before bed?"

In October, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the implementation of the GST in his 2014 Budget speech and proposed the abolition of the sales and services tax.

He said the new tax will be effective on April 1, 2015.

The announcement came amidst anti-GST activists converging outside the Parliament building that day.

The budget has a total allocation of RM264.4 billion and in his speech, Najib estimated that the fiscal deficit will be at 3.5% with revenue expected at RM224 billion.

Among others, the abolition of the 34 sen sugar subsidy and increased BR1M payments were also on the cards.

Najib said the 6% GST rate would be among the lowest among Asean countries, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philipines and Laos capping theirs at 10% and Singapore 7%. – December 22, 2013.