Pua (left) said the need to hide the truth assumes and presumes either guilt or that Malaysians are too 'stupid' to comprehend the truth. ― Picture by Azinuddin Ghazali

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Umno president-hopeful Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah should not criticise the government’s transparency regarding past scandals under the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration, Damansara MP Tony Pua said today.

In a statement, Pua said Tengku Razaleigh’s allegations that the recent exposés by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng have affected the stock market negatively only showcased the latter’s ignorance.

“The Pakatan Harapan government will not be one to lie to the people and betray their trust in us.

“We will not succumb to the obsessive tendency to hide the truth from the public, which has in turn resulted in corrupt practices to astronomical proportions,” he said in a statement.

Pua pointed out that global equity markets have seen a fall in the past few days due to various external factors, including the political crisis in Italy, the apparent China-US trade war and the prospect of further rate hikes in the US.

“For the month of June up until the 19th, the equity market in Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong had all fallen by 5.0 per cent, 4.2 per cent, 3.6 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively,” Pua said.

“Would Tengku Razaleigh blame Lim‘s exposés for their fall as well? In contrast, the KLCI had fallen by only 1.5 per cent in the same period. Would he then praise the Minister for the ‘performance’ instead?”

He was referring to Tengku Razaleigh’s statement in an interview with Astro Awani last night, where the Gua Musang MP claimed the transparency practiced by Lim had caused “people to sell their shares.”

Tengku Razaleigh had reportedly said it was not necessary to make public the full details of the federal government’s debt.

Pua said the need to hide the truth assumes and presumes either guilt or that Malaysians are too “stupid” to comprehend the truth.

“This new Government believes that Malaysians have a right to the truth, regardless of whether the truth is painful or otherwise,” he said.