KUALA LUMPUR: Former second finance minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani has told lawmakers to stop playing political games, and focus on building the nation and economy instead.
The Titiwangsa MP expressed hope that the vote of confidence in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would stop the politicking that has plagued the country for the last four years.
"If the motion of confidence receives support, it will create a stable government in the next five years.
"The changing of prime ministers three to four times in a term will not happen again. Political stability is an important ingredient in developing a country's economy.
"If we continue to question the premiership and argue about issues that are not relatable to the people, then we will waste our time by repeating whatever that has happened in the past four-and-a-half years, while neighbouring countries continue to develop and Malaysia is left way behind," he said in debating the motion of confidence.
Johari said Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita showed no growth from 2018 until last year.
"Our growth is -0.1 per cent compared with Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
"For example, Indonesia's GDP per capita grew 11.8 per cent from 2018 to 2021, Vietnam's increased 24.2 per cent, Thailand 9.7 per cent and the Philippines, 19.3 per cent," he said.