3. What Anwar has to offer
by Adib Zalkapli, The Malaysian Insider
On the 10th anniversary of his sacking as deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today gave a glimpse of what a government led by him would offer the people.
If his Pakatan Rakyat alliance takes power on Sept 16, he promised to lower corporate and personal income taxes.
He said a major revamp of the Approved Permit (AP) system would also be undertaken, through the introduction of an auction of APs to the highest bidders.
A new open tender system would also be introduced to prevent abuse under an Anwar Ibrahim government.
The opposition leader said these measures would be part of a new Budget his government would table in Parliament if it comes to power in two weeks.
Anwar had pledged to form a government by Sept 16 once he persuades enough Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs to cross over to his PR alliance.
By offering to introduce major reforms to how Malaysia is governed, he is attempting to offer Malaysians direct comparisons with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, and ratchet up the pressure on BN.
He described last week's Budget 2009 tabled by Abdullah as "too little too late".
"My economic philosophy has always been to lower taxes and increase productivity, and I have not changed from that position to reduce the burden of not only the people but also the business community.
"But to come out with a very specific proposal, it will have to be deliberated first at the Pakatan Rakyat level," said Anwar at a press conference at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat headquarters in Petaling Jaya.
But he offered his pitch for reforming the way APs are awarded.
"Based on an estimated 70,000 APs issued per annum and a conservative RM25,000 market price, the auction will provide an additional RM1.75 billion to government coffers,'' he said.
The former finance minister said that while the AP system is considered part of the government's affirmative action policies, it had been abused to "enrich a few Malays".
Anwar also promised to review the public tender system to be consistent with market principles.
"To honour our international commitment to free trade, all tenders shall be made competitive, open and transparent by 2015," he said, adding that the new measure would save more than RM5 billion a year.
However, Anwar said that the rights of the Malays and Bumiputras will not be compromised.
"We will have a proper tender, to protect the poor and the marginalised. The position of the Malays and the Bumiputras will not be compromised. The Malays will not lose.
"A few Malay companies may lose, but the majority of the Malays will not."
Anwar repeated an earlier pledge that a PR government would continue affirmative action, but it would not be a programme based on race.
He also said that his promise to reduce fuel prices remains should PR come to power.
"With our proposed downward adjustment of the fuel price, our aim is to reduce inflation to less than five percent," he added.
