KEPALA BATAS (March 4, 2008): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi publicly lashed out at Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Opposition today.
“He (Anwar) is good at talking, but when it comes to work, it is another matter. When he was the education minister, what did he do?” Abdullah asked, when launching an "i-Pintar" educational programme here.
“He is only good at making empty promises. When we do our work to fulfil our promises, he criticised us,” said Abdullah who went on to list in detail, as a example, how the salary tiers of teachers have improved compared to the time when Anwar was education minister.
“It is not that I want to point fingers at them (the Opposition) but I just want to tell the truth to the people so that they are not cheated by the Opposition which is making empty promises,” he added.
Later at a press conference, when asked why he had singled out Anwar at this time when all this while Anwar had no qualms criticising him (Abdullah) publicly, Abdullah said he will say something whenever appropriate.
“What I said about him is the truth,” said Abdullah, adding that he concurred with Gerakan adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik’s statement that "Anwar is like a chameleon."
“That is true. He does change like a chameleon. Lim knows him well,” he said.
He also agreed with a statement by former PKR deputy president Prof Dr Chandra Muzaffar that if Anwar were to become prime minister, it would be an unmitigated disaster.
“This is possible based on what he usually does. What he said about Anwar is true,” he said.
Abdullah, who also quoted the widely circulated phrase of ‘sejak Pak Lah, semua harga naik,’ (since Pak Lah, prices of everything increase) hit out at the Opposition for offering impractical and impossible promises to reduce prices of things.
“They promise to reduce this and reduce that. At that rate the whole country will go bankrupt because of them!” he said.
Refering to the Opposition’s manifesto promising RM6,000 to each family, Abdullah said they obviously had not thought of where they would get that kind of money to be given out.
“Where are they going to get the money to give out? Have they thought about the consequences of doing this? Have they thought of inflation and its impact on the economy? They do not think and all they want to do is just to please the people for the short term,” he said.
“Look at Kelantan. They have governed it for the past 18 years and what have they done? Nothing. Instead, they owe the federal government RM1 billion and Kelantanese, men and women, are all moving out to work elsewhere,” he said.
On the Opposition’s strategy using racial issue in their campaign, Abdullah said as the elections draw nearer, the Opposition resorts to desperate means.
“This is what we call, ‘saying one thing, but doing another’. They keep saying they want to fight for justice for all but when it comes to elections, they become desperate.
“So they are using the racial issue to scare certain races, just to fish for votes. This is how they campaign. They use such tactics to get the support of certain racial groups,” he added.
The Umno chief said his party will not interfere with Gerakan's choice of candidates for the next Penang chief minister.
“We have never had the tradition to interfere. If we have any view, we will present it to the leadership involved and discuss the matter.”
"It is the same with any issue, we discuss with all involved. If there is any problem with our party, as part of the Barisan Nasional coalition, we will consult (one another) with the purpose of solving the problem."
Abdullah said the candidates chosen for the post are all experienced and strong leaders from the BN. "The BN has presented a combination of young and old team to the public,” he said.
“When the time is right, it will then be decided who among the three candidates will become the next chief minister,” he added.
The three candidates named are Pulau Tikus incumbent Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan, 62, Machang Bubuk candidate Datuk Lee Kah Choon, 47, and Padang Kota incumbent Teng Chang Yeow, 44.
On the progress of BN’s election campaign, Abdullah said it is moving along smoothly although more needed to be done.
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