KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had refused to remain as Prime Minister of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government and to commit to fulfilling and delivering the PH General Election Manifesto at a Feb 25 meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office, according to DAP Secretary-General and Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng.

In a statement today, Lim, who was Finance Minister during the PH administration, said the PH governing coalition comprising PKR, Amanah, DAP and Bersatu that won the mandate may have different ideologies and aspirations, but made common ground and was bound by the General Election Manifesto agreed to by all.

He said over the last 21 months, the PH government had worked hard to fulfil and deliver the manifesto promise progressively.

“Amongst them [are] the reduction in toll rates for the North South Highway by 18% for private vehicles with no toll hikes for the remainder of the concession period, the MySalam project offering monetary assistance ranging from RM4,000 to RM8,000 for those suffering from 45 critical illnesses, the abolition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with Sales and Service Tax and repaying GST refunds amounting to RM19.4 billion.

“The retention of our international credit ratings despite having to pay tens of billions for 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Tabung Haji and other related scandals, revival of major infrastructure projects following savings of over RM50 billion from renegotiation and rationalization of previous government projects, speeding up digitalisation through promoting e-wallets, creating 350,000 jobs for those unemployed who cannot get jobs through the RM6.5 billion Malaysian @ Work programme and many other initiatives,” he said.