BARISAN Nasional should not scare the workers by telling them to vote for the coalition if they wished to see an increase in the minimum wage, said Nurul Izzah Anwar.

The PKR vice-president said the BN chairman should not use such a tactic to reel in the votes.

“He should not scare the people, telling them they will get an increase in minimum wage only if BN wins. It is sad,” she said today.

Yesterday. BN chairman Najib, said the current minimum wage, fixed at RM1,000 in the peninsula and RM920 in East Malaysia, would be increased if the ruling government retained power in Putrajaya. In its election manifesto, BN has pledged to raise minimum wage to RM1,500 in five years.

Nurul Izzah, the Pakatan Harapan candidate in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, said de facto PKR  leader Anwar Ibrahim had championed minimum wage since 2008, when it was made one of Pakatan Rakyat’s five main pledges to the people.

She said Anwar had proposed that the minimum income of every household should be RM4,000.

“Our ideas have impact, seeing how BN copies them. We welcome BN to take our ideas but we don’t link them to elections, although winning elections will make it easier to implement the ideas.

PH Youth vice-chief Faiz Fadzil, who is contesting the Permatang Pasir state seat, said Najib’s reported speech sounded like political intimidation, adding that PH had better and more holistic ways to address the minimum wage. – May 3, 2018.