Rafizi responds to Muhyiddin's challenge

Pakatan Rakyat will be reviewing all of the government’s policies, including toning down the 1Malaysia campaign, said PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli today.

Rafizi said that this was the Opposition’s stand that the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia(BR1M) cash handout would be replaced by a series of targeted cash payments.

The candidate for the Pandan parliamentary seat was commenting on Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s challenge to him on whether PR would abolish all 200 1Malaysia programmes for the rakyat.

"We have over 200 1Malaysia products and benefits targeted specifically to various sections of society ranging from to the poor, fishermen, single mothers, students and more. I challenge Rafizi and Guan Eng to give an answer by tomorrow,” said Muhyiddin.

He asked if PR would stop the beneficial programmes, asking in particular, Rafizi, whether he would keep quiet.

When asked, Rafizi repeated that Muhyiddin was ‘misguided’ to think that BR1M was a good product. He said that Pakatan will not stop cash payments, but will make it more targeted, in particular to the elderly, hardcore poor and handicaped.

“We’ve made it quite clear actually our attitude and approach, on not just 1Malaysia, but generally policies of the currently government, should we take over.

“Generally there will be a review of everything.”

Rafizi said that for the 1Malaysia concept, Pakatan would definitely immediately stop “the over branding of 1Malaysia to the point that it is really taking over every space and sphere of government administration.”

“We definitely won’t waste hundreds of millions just to promote the 1Malaysia brand. The whole branding and PR exercise, has failed to solve issues of one-ness and unity. All the expensive media campaigns will cease eventually, because in our opinion, it is not worth it, when it is not really doing anything.

Rafizi said that money is better spent on “actual programmes, education, awareness that can help”.

“Less branding, more doing,” he said.

Rafizi said that initiatives under the Government Transformation Programme and Economic Transformation programme would also be reviewed.

“Only those with strong financial viability and strong socially, we may actually continue provided that the rakyat don’t lose out.”

He said all the other programmes that is not financially viable, especially those that the Government need to inject funds just so that they can get investment numbers, will be scrapped.

“The government can’t continue to subsidise corporate projects just so that there is an impression that things are moving and the momentum is good.”

He cited the example in the 1Malaysia email as well as the Tun Razak Exchange, which he said was a “huge real estate development that would take away a large part of government land and it would burden government linked companies.”