The former prime minister noted that the falling ringgit, rising inflation and current economic climate had hit regular Malaysians hard, while the B40 income group had effectively turned into the B60.
As the National Recovery Council (MPN) chairman, he said, he had put forward several recommendations to bolster economic recovery, such as another round of loan moratoriums for small and medium enterprises, and simplifying the loan application process for businesses.
Muhyiddin said many businesses had been forced to downsize or shut down operations because of a labour shortage. He said this was an issue raised at every MPN meeting, though there had yet to be any comprehensive solution.
“The fall of the ringgit is also not taken seriously. The prime minister (Ismail Sabri Yaakob) has not come forward to explain measures being taken to curb this fall. In fact, he said that this isn’t a big problem.
“Apparently, Malaysia is not in a crisis, (it is) as if everything is okay. But I know that not everything is okay out there. It seems that the prime minister does not consider these issues as urgent,” the Perikatan Nasional chairman said in a Facebook post.
Muhyiddin said he had yet to come to the point of urging Ismail to dissolve Parliament, noting that Barisan Nasional had been doing so repeatedly this year.
“However, I do think that if the prime minister fails to manage the economy and country well, it’s best that a general election is held so that a new government that is capable and free of corruption can be elected by the people.”
Last week, Ismail said there was still time for the next general election to be held this year. He said it all depended on Umno’s “top five”, which refers to the party president, the deputy president and the three vice-presidents, one of whom is Ismail.
Umno’s top five leaders will meet on Sept 30 to discuss the coming polls.
The government’s term ends next July and the general election must be held by Sept 16, 2023, but some Umno leaders have pressed for it to be called this year following convincing BN victories in recent state elections.