THE Pakatan Harapan presidential council will set a date for the transition of power and will announce the date at the appropriate time, said Lim Guan Eng.

“The prime minister has set the timeline. Definitely the PH presidential council will then meet and I am sure a date will be set, and that will be announced at the appropriate time,” the finance minister said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Several PH leaders have made public statements urging Dr Mahathir Mohamad to set a definite timeline for the handover of the prime minister’s post to Anwar Ibrahim.

Commenting on this, the DAP secretary-general said it is “very hard to impose a gag order” even though such discussions should be held internally.

“I think  discussions should be internal (but) we have a democratic culture (so) it is always very hard to impose a gag order,” he said.

While it is not the government’s intention to issue such order, Lim said public spats among members of the ruling pact would only benefit their opponents.

“So let us focus on governing and this issue will resolve internally.”

Calls for Dr Mahathir to step down in May have grown since December when he said he preferred to hand over power after Malaysia hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in November.

The handover to Anwar, although agreed to by all PH parties, does not stipulate a fixed timeline.

Earlier today, PKR President Anwar urged all parties to stop openly talking about the prime minister transition issue and respect the consensus that was reached by the PH leadership in January 2018.

On the recent talk surrounding the on-the-road (OTR) prices of complete knock-down (CKD) vehicles, Lim said the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has clarified today that there will be no price increase this year.

MAA president Aishah Ahmad said earlier today that the government through the Finance Ministry has decided to absorb the differences in OTR prices for selected models up to December 30, 2020.

Lim said he regrets the comments by certain parties which have created confusion on the  alleged price hike.

Lim and Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin earlier attended an event held in conjunction with the launch of the e-tunai rakyat initiative.

About 3.5 million Malaysians have spent RM105 million via the three participating e-wallet platforms as of 10pm yesterday. 

Lim, who was buoyed by the encouraging response to the government’s effort to promote a cashless society, said nearly 25% of the RM450 million allotted for the initiative has been spent. – January 22, 2020.