Abolishing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is infeasible as the country and economy depend on the billions in revenue, said PAS assemblyman Datuk Iskandar Samad.
The Chempaka assemblyman said parties should present a workable alternative to the consumption tax, as his Islamist party will do soon in its manifesto, rather than making populist promises of only repealing the GST.
“You cannot abolish GST without coming up with an alternative to it. The country makes billions of ringgits from the collection itself.
“PAS has figured out a formula to create some sort of an alternative, but at the same time would not burn a hole in the rakyat’s wallets,” he said at the PAS Chinese New Year open house at Block M14 in Pandan Jaya last night.
On the Pakatan Harapan manifesto released on Thursday, he said it is normal for parties to champion issues that would appeal to the general masses and PAS is not excluded.
“I have not had the time to scrutinise Pakatan’s manifesto but I think all party will present what is acceptable to entice the people.
“For PAS, we have a good track record. We have showed that we are capable of doing good things.
“When we unveil our manifesto, we will not have to lobby hard because our track record speaks for us. We don’t just pluck manifesto out of thin air,” he said.
The PAS lawmaker, who is also a part of the committee drafting the PAS manifesto, said the party will likely issue the document in the next two to three weeks.
He refused to divulge further details, but said among the issues highlighted include rising living costs and property prices.
Pakatan Harapan on Thursday announced its 200-page manifesto, among which promises the abolishment of GST within three months upon taking over Putrajaya – themalaymailonline
