THE government should not allow more 4D special draws to be held as they will face “great resistance” from inside and outside the Dewan Rakyat, Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (Pasir Mas-PN) said.

The PAS MP said any form of gambling will have an adverse effect on the people in the short- and long-term.

“There is no need to increase special draws. This is a step backward.

“Suddenly, we (government) want to raise it from eight to 22 (draws). The government has to retract this,” he said when debating the 12th Malaysia Plan this evening.

It was reported last week that the government has given gaming companies permission to hold 22 “special draws” for 4D numbers this year, on top of the usual thrice-weekly draws.

On September 20, in a written reply to Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PH), Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz confirmed that the government had approved all 22 applications for “special draws” this year.

Fadhli said, even though there are differences of opinion that argued the revenue from gambling can be used for “other things”, there should be no increase in the number of special draws.

“No matter what the arguments are, the government can’t increase the draws.”

He said there were many other ways the government can increase revenue.

This, he said, included introducing a capital gains tax on shares and increasing corporate taxes by 1%. – September 28, 2021.