After revealing documents proving that the state of Kelantan has requested RM97 million loan from the federal government, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has been labelled as immoral by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang. You ask people for proof and now you marah pula.
Hadi explained that the letter was confidential and it is wrong for it to be shared with the public.
He continued, as quoted by Malay Mail,
“Of course the practice, manners and morality was improper like that, and we also had not exposed his secrets.”
However, Hadi did not explain further in regards to the alleged “secrets” that he had concerning Lim. He also stressed that these attacks made on the PAS state government are because of the “righteousness” of Kelantan.
Hadi’s reaction was prompted when Lim presented the documents as proof that Kelantan had indeed requested for a federal loan. It had all started on Monday (Oct 22) when Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS-Kota Baru) had asked if the state governments of Kelantan and Terengganu could continue with the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project on their own.
In response, Lim had questioned the Kelantan state government’s ability to do so as they had to rely on federal loans and were not able to pay their civil servants, The Star reported. Hadi had denied asking for such a loan to pay the salaries of the civil servants but on Wednesday (Oct 24), Lim had distributed a letter dated June 18 which shows that the Kelantan government had indeed asked for an advanced grant loan amounting to RM97 million.
Guan Eng said the Pakatan Harapan government was only able to approve RM22.5 million for the civil servants’ pay which amounted to RM24.5 million. He admonished PAS for saying that he was anti-Malay and Islam as he was only stating facts and figures, based on a report by The Star.
“How could some of them accuse me of (being) anti-Malay or Islam. I don’t understand where the issue stems from. When I talk about facts and figures, and mention that the federal government provides assistance, how can they stir up racial and religious issues? Usually, such replies come from those who do not know how to manage the economy and will reply using such sentiments to cover up their failures. I hope the PAS leadership can get back on the right track and give full focus to facts and figures,” he said.
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