PETALING JAYA: There are bigger priorities now than a vote of confidence for the prime minister, Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (Patriot) said today.
Its president, Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji (pix), said economic growth has not met expectations as pointed out by Bank Negara Malaysia.
In addition, he said, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) is likely to sustain for a few months more, and this could have a further negative impact on the economy.
In a recent report, Bank Negara stated that the economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2019 was only 3.6% and the annual growth rate was 4.3% compared with a forecast of a 4.8% growth rate.
It attributed the shortfall to several factors, such as lower crude oil and gas prices, decline in palm oil exports and the effects of the US-China trade war.
Mohamed Arshad said that instead of indulging in political one-upmanship the politicians from both sides of the aisle should work together to address the problems the country is facing.
“The attempt to table a vote of confidence in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad so that he can complete the five-year term is an irresponsible attempt by opposition politicians to form a government ‘through the back door’ while Pakatan Harapan (PH) politicians are too preoccupied with their own survival,” Mohamed Arshad said.
“It is a betrayal of the rakyat’s aspirations,” he added.
He urged politicians from both sides of the divide to work for the common good and welfare of the people once they have been voted into office.
“They owe it to the people to work tirelessly to improve on the socio-economic progress of the country and not to scheme for political survival, create distrust, hatred and disunity among the people,” he said.
He said the matter of succession to the prime minister’s office should be left to the PH presidential council while its representatives should work to fulfil the promises made in their election manifesto.
PAS recently announced that it would table a vote of confidence in Mahathir next month.
