KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau has dismissed DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng's grouses over the over government's 2022 Budget allocation for the Chinese and Indian communities as "a classic move out of DAP's playbook".
He claimed that Lim's criticism of the allocation was meant to sow discord ahead of the 15th general election (GE15).
"It seems that Guan Eng only remembers the Chinese and Indians when a general election is near.
"I want to ask him what he did when he was in power as finance minister," he said, adding that a slew of issues affecting the Chinese community remained unattended.
This, he said, included the implementation of Jawi in primary schools as part of the Bahasa Melayu syllabus, stalled allocations to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) not being recognised despite appeals from the grassroots.
"This is mainly to stoke the hatred and dissatisfaction of the people, which is a classic move out of the DAP playbook."
Lim had earlier urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to explain why the Indian and Chinese communities received allocations which equalled to less than three per cent of the allocation set aside for the Bumiputera and Orang Asli communities under the 2022 Budget.
He was alluding to the RM11.4 billion spending set aside for the Bumiputera, besides the RM274 million for the Orang Asli, and the RM345 million for both the Chinese and Indian communities.
Lim said if the RM274 million allocated to the Orang Asli community was added to the Bumiputera spending, the RM345 million budget for the Chinese and Indian communities amounted to less than three per cent of the RM11.674 billion allocated for the Bumiputera and Orang Asli communities.
He said while no one opposed the RM11.674 billion sum allocated to the two communities, an xplanation was warranted.
"How can Ismail Sabri ensure that the 2023 Budget is focused on the welfare and well-being of the people as a whole, when the budget (last year) was race-specific and not based on needs?"