Kick out BN, Anwar tells poor
Tashny Sukumaran | May 21, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has urged the poor to vote out Barisan Nasional which is on the verge of slashing subsidies.
Speaking at a ceramah in Cheras Baru here last night, he flayed Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for burdening the public but protecting the cronies and independent power producers.Umno, he said, must be ovethrown for “bowing to rich towkays” like T Ananda Krishnan, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary and YTL.
Despite the humidity in the multipurpose hall and insects which buzzed incessantly, Anwar had managed to keep his 1,000- strong audience from the nearby low-cost flats in rapt attention.
The crowd clapped, groaned, laughed and chanted “Reformasi” as the opposition leader, known for his fiery oratory skills, took the government to task over several issues.
“They give subsidies to poor people and call it opium but when they give it to the rich it is okay although they are the real opium addicts,” he said in response to Najib likening petrol subsidies to opium.
The prime minister had said that subsidies needed to be cut gradually in order to bring the budget deficit under control. The government plans to reduce the deficit from 5.6% to 5.4% this year, then down to 2.8% by 2015.
However, Anwar argued that the subsidies could be maintained if the “dictatorial” BN clamped down on corruption.
“Who here can say that they have not been asked for bribes on the streets?” he asked the audience, eliciting murmurs of assent.
During his speech, Anwar also touched on his ongoing sodomy trial and accused his political rivals of attempting to throw him behind bars again on trumped up charges.
“But I was in jail for six years. Did they overcome Malay poverty? Did corruption go down? In fact, corruption went up!” he said. - FMT
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