PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim today said that he is willing to do an about-face on any government decision as long as it benefits the people.

“If there is a need to flip-flop the (government’s) decision so that it would help the people, then I will flip-flop.

“What is the reason not to when you know it will burden the people,” the Tambun lawmaker told the Dewan Rakyat during the Prime Minister’s Question Time today.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang-PN), who asked why the prime minister was making U-turns on decisions made on the chicken and egg subsidies as well as the on Public Services Department (JPA) scholarships.

Anwar said he was making a counter-decisions against what was made by the previous administration.

“The JPA scholarship issue is an old decision to review and to stop it. There are records for it and I attended the JPA meeting. So, what was announced was the old decision,” Anwar said.

“When I chaired the JPA meeting, I decided to continue with the scholarship.

“The same goes to the chicken and egg subsidies. The previous decision was to end in June.

“When the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry referred the matter to the finance minister and the prime minister, I felt it would burden the people and also Hari Raya Haji is around the corner. So, I decided to continue (with the subsidies).

“The decision was not a case of flip-flopping. It was just a revision of the old decisions made (by the previous administration),” Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said.

Last week, the Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said the prices of chicken and egg will be floated starting July 1.

Subsequently, Anwar said the subsidies and price control for chicken and egg would continue.

The Tambun lawmaker reiterated that JPA will continue to offer scholarships for students pursuing medicine, dentistry and pharmacy courses, after the department initially announced it had decided to stop sponsoring students in the said fields. 

Meanwhile, Anwar said a total of RM158 billion (41%) of the entire Budget 2023 had been spent as of May this year.

He said the RM158 billion included RM3 billion for the first and second phase payments of Rahmah Cash Aid (STR) which benefited 8.7 million beneficiaries, special financial assistance to 1.3 million civil servants and over 1 million retirees, and RM3 billion for electricity bill subsidies. – June 13, 2023.