In a Facebook post, Fadhli said Putrajaya needs to clarify the matter as it had repeatedly said it was confident of quashing hardcore poverty by 2023.

“Today is Jan 1, 2024. Has hardcore poverty ceased to exist in Malaysia? The government must explain,” he said.

In June last year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he wanted the entire government machinery to work together to eradicate hardcore poverty in the country by 2023.

He repeated the government’s vow on Sept 11 when tabling the 12th Malaysia Plan Mid-Term Review in the Dewan Rakyat.

However, he admitted to the lower house then that of Aug 15, “the government is still struggling to lift nearly 114,000 hardcore poor families out of poverty”.

Two days later, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin raised doubts over the government’s goal and questioned whether the poverty line used by the government was still realistic, given the situation with inflation and rising cost of living.

On Dec 22, Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Aminuddin Harun said hardcore poverty had been eradicated in the state with 3,530 households now escaping the lowest bracket of poverty.

Aminuddin said Seremban was the last district to achieve “zero extreme poverty”, with 922 heads of households falling under the “poor” category now.

Hardcore poor refers to households with a monthly income of less than RM1,169, while those in “absolute poverty” have an income of less than RM2,208.