PUTRAJAYA: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday dismissed allegations that the government caved in to right-wing pressure and watered down the second part of the New Economic Model (NEM).
“The question of being watered down or pressure from anyone does not arise. For us, in the government, it was the best measure to meet the demands of all levels to make the country a high-income nation by 2020,” he said.
Shaping the country into a high-income nation involved taking into account all components in the community, including Bumiputeras and the urban and rural communities and all sectors of the economy, he told reporters after delivering the 2011 special message to the Education Ministry, here.
The media had reported on Tuesday a claim by National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) member Datuk Dr Zainal Aznam Mohd Yusof that strong objections by right-wing groups led by Perkasa to the first part of the NEM had led to the watering down of the second part.
Muhyiddin: Needless to play up former envoy’s claim
Dr Zainal Aznam had said that Perkasa and other right-wing groups were totally against the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) proposal which dropped the 30 per cent bumiputera equity ownership.
On another matter, Muhyiddin said it was needless for the media to play up the views of former United States ambassador to Malaysia John R Malott because they were irrelevant.
“That’s his business. He does not have any status. He is a former envoy.
“We do not know where he lives now. Why must we play up his views? He is not a president or a former prime minister.
“He was here, but he has made up stories. Maybe he is a good friend of Pakatan Rakyat, of (Opposition Leader) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He is twisting facts,” he said.
In an article titled ‘The Price of Malaysia’s Racism’ in The Wall Street Journal, Malott had written, among other things, that racial and religious tensions were higher today than when Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took office as the prime minister in 2009. — Bernama