Jeniri gestures when speaking to the press. — Photo by Jeffery Mostapa
KUCHING: There is no way for Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem to wash his hands of the impact resulting from the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Asserting this was political scientist Assoc Prof Dr Jeniri Amir, who, based on his findings, opined that issues pertaining to GST would be hitting right at the state Barisan Nasional (BN) where it hurts come the 11th state election.
“You cannot run away because the state BN government is part of the federal government. GST is a bread and butter issue and it affects not only the rural people but everybody in Sarawak,” said the Dean of Social Science Faculty of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) when met by journalists after attending a pre-election forum themed ‘Di Ambang Pilihanraya’ at Grand Margherita Hotel here Thursday night.
Jeniri pointed out that the state BN government could not escape from what Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had done in Putrajaya.
“Whatever Najib did at the federal level, you (Adenan) need to be accountable for it, because you have seven (full cabinet) ministers from Sarawak. What are they (the seven ministers) doing? What did they do? If they disagree with that (GST), you know they have to counter the course.”
He said he had completed some research which led him to conclude that many rural folks had been struck hard by the implementation of GST.
“It is a matter of survival. People in the rural areas with less than RM500 income have to depend on their daughters and sons (who work) in urban areas. Everywhere you go, people are affected by GST. You buy products, you buy food, you are charged and have to pay the six per cent GST.”
While some quarters showed concern about scandals such as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the RM2.6 billion, he said these issues were way too complicated for the rural people who struggled to make ends meet. He added that not even good governance was of great concern to the rural community.
On the note that Adenan had more than once declared that his hands were tied when it came to federal government policies, Jeniri said: “He is a politician. The state BN government is part of the overall federal government, we are part of Malaysia.”
He stressed: “You cannot run away from the policies undertaken by the federal government.”
Asked what Adenan could do given the scenario, he said the chief minister could explain to the people why GST is crucial for the country.
“I mean, there are more than 166 countries in the world and they practise this policy, that must be the right thing to do.”
During the forum moderated by Dato Idris Buang earlier, Jeniri asked why the federal government did not launch GST at three per cent instead of the current rate.
He said the state BN government could not just “take the good things and push the bad things to the federal government.”
“It is impractical to start off with six per cent. Why didn’t we do it like Singapore did? To say that the state government has nothing to do with GST is to avoid the issue.
“You have to accept the fact that this is a big problem especially among the rural areas.” Another panellist Voon Lee Shan said he looked forward to Adenan fighting for a lower GST rate for Sarawakians. “I hope the chief minister will fight for lower GST like three per cent for Sarawak only,” said Voon, former Batu Lintang assemblyman and a prominent lawyer.