KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been given 100 days to prove that the reintroduction of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) system is able to reduce the prices of goods and lighten the rakyat's burden.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Bagan Datuk) said the 100-day period would commence once the SST is implemented nationwide on Sept 1.
He said the Opposition would continue to be a 'gentleman' about it by giving a grace period of up to a year for the government to prove its theories that were served to the rakyat prior to the 14th General Election (GE14).
"I read the analysis of several economists who compared the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implemented in over 160 countries with the SST, which is a tax regime implemented by under-developed countries.
"We give them a chance to reduce the cost of living because they say GST collected over RM48 billion, but with SST it will only be RM21 billion.
"The theory is that the switch to SST will benefir the rakyat by reducing the burden of high cost of living.
"We'll wait," he said when met at the Parliament lobby, here, today.
The government's move to bring back the SST comes after it zero-rated the GST after coming into power in the 14th General Election (GE14).
The SST Bill will be tabled in Parliament next month.
In other developments, Ahmad Zahid questioned the 90-minute consideration for the Opposition leader to debate the King's opening address in Parliament by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker.
He said the decision was different than the stand taken by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government that did not impose a time limit for the Opposition leader to debate the royal opening address.
"Usually, the Opposition leader would have many issues to talk about, but with 90-minute time limit, it will hamper these efforts.
"Whatever it is, I am thankful to the Speaker and his deputy for being fair to both sides during the sitting," Ahmad Zahid said.
Commenting on the government's election manifesto, Ahmad Zahid said the reason that they did not have access to the country's financial situation was a mere excuse.
The 'cheap excuse', he said could not be accepted as the information was readily available on public platforms via government websites.
"Do not make it an excuse, infact the manifesto is not supposed to have been written by one person, but a framework agreed via a collective and united effort of an organisation," he added.
Deputy director of the Policy and Strategies Bureau of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) Wan Saiful Wan Jan yesterday admitted to not having enough information when drafting Pakatan Harapan's manifesto for the election.
He reportedly said this was one of the reasons why there were weaknesses in the manifesto.