KUALA LUMPUR: The claims made by Bachok member of Parliament Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman where Kelantan is the 'stepchild' of the unity government was baseless.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said this was because Kelantan was given the highest allocation under the 2023 Madani Budget for flood mitigation plan works and providing clean water for its people.
"This is a baseless view, one without facts, as Kelantan was given the highest allocation compared with other states (under the 2023 Budget).
"As a young leader (in Pas), he (Mohd Syahir) should instead be more outspoken in fixing the internal problem (within his party) while also giving solutions (to resolve issues in Kelantan)," he said when met by reporters after the 36th Asia-Pacific Roundtable (36APR) held by Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia.
Anwar said this in response to Mohd Syahir's claims that Kelantan was indeed the stepchild of the government when debating 'Malaysia's New Economic Model' with Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli last night.
Mohd Syahir was asked to explain why Melaka and Negri Sembilan could flourish compared to Kelantan.
The Pas assistant secretary-general, in response, stressed that the main reason why Kelantan was still poor was because of "federalism", in which the state was denied its rights, including oil royalties, as it had been under a different administration than the federal government. (Link: https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2023/08/940859/kelantan-stepchild-f...)
He claimed that in the 33 years that Kelantan had been under Pas rule, the state had never enjoyed federalism as Melaka or Negri Sembilan had.
Meanwhile, Anwar also stressed that the allocation given by the current federal government was higher than that given by Perikatan Nasional (PN) when it was in power.
"I approved every important suggestion put forth by the Kelantan state government. In fact, the allocation given now is higher than what Bersatu and Pas gave when they were in administration.
They were also busy questioning other things, and the allocation was lesser than now.
"How is this making Kelantan a stepchild?"
