PKR: Approved Permit to be revamped for cheaper cars

The revamp of the controversial Approved Permit (AP) system will be among steps taken to bring about Pakatan Rakyat's plan for cheaper cars through the abolition of excise duty, says PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli.

"We are looking into how the APs are managed. We all know that the AP is a source of wealth for cronies.

"We will see how this source of income can balance out the revenue lost from the excise duty," Rafizi told a press conference at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya this afternoon.

The entire mechanism of the plan, he said, would be announced next week by PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim.

"In the following weeks, we will conduct sessions to explain how we will manage the AP to support the restructuring of the (car) tax system," Rafizi said, adding that this was on top of putting controls on the national budget.

He added the mechanism will also outline several issues, including how to manage the collateral with banks for existing car loans and controlling second hand car prices.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had criticised the plan, stating that such a move would cost the government RM4.6 billion per annum.

However, Rafizi said the actual amount was in fact RM8 billion but stressed that this was doable as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak spent more than that in a single year.

'PM's various unplanned expenditure'

Rafizi pointed out the various unplanned expenditure by the premier for the first six months of this year, particularly on goodies such as Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia, Bantuan Buku 1Malaysia, various 1Malaysia products and the Janji Ditepati campaign had amounted to a staggering RM 5.8 billion.

This was on top of the spending on operational and development expenditure by the Prime Minister’s Department - calculated on average from 2009 to this year - which spiked by RM6 billion compared to in the era of Najib’s predecessor, bringing the total to RM11.8 billion.

“All it takes is for the prime minister not to spend RM12 billion a year. If we return to the era of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s spending which is RM3 billion for operational and development expenditure respectively, we can easily raise RM8 billion.

Rafizi (right) added that instead of the premier showering goodies on the rakyat for votes, the money used to finance those goodies should have remained in the rakyat’s pockets to begin with.

“But now Umno imposes high taxes on us, and then when they spend the money back on us, they tell us to be grateful and boast that ‘Janji Ditepati’ (Promises Fulfilled),” he said.

He gave an assurance that no new taxes will be introduced to finance the plan.

Rafizi added that the mechanism will also outline several issues, including how to manage the collateral with banks for existing car loans and controlling second hand car prices.