Not just about SST, PH leaders reject Ahmad Maslan's claim

Kampar MP Chong Zhemin says voters' decisions are not determined by tax issues alone, but by broader factors such as the cost of living, economic performance, political stability and the quality of governance.

"It is not accurate to link the Chinese business community's support for PH solely to the SST issue," he told FMT.

"Besides, the SST is a policy decided collectively by the unity government, which also includes Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN). So it is unfair to try to place that responsibility on PH alone."

He was responding to Umno supreme council member Ahmad Maslan, who claimed that Chinese traders had begun shifting their support away from PH over dissatisfaction with the implementation of the tax system.

Ahmad was reported as saying that traders might prefer the goods and services tax (GST) as it allows them to claim input tax credits or apply for refunds.

Chong said Ahmad should bring the proposal to be discussed jointly at government level if he believed the GST was the better option.

"… rather than making PH the scapegoat for a policy that his own party agreed to," he said.

Amanah: The problem is communication

Meanwhile, Amanah secretary-general Faiz Fadzil disputed the claim that PH had lost the support of Chinese traders, saying instead that weaknesses in communication had given opponents room to play up a racial narrative.

"Chinese votes remain with PH, it is the Malay votes that are insufficient. This racial narrative is what PH needs to break," he said.

"There are many very good government policies, especially in economic management, but PH's communication needs to improve so that the people are aware of this administration's capability."

Even so, he said, Ahmad's criticism should be accepted as room for reflection for the unity government to review any policy that is less popular.

"Although this policy was decided together, all parties in the government, whether PH or BN, must take collective responsibility," he said.