KUBANG PASU - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim clarified that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin only announced but did not settle the debts of the settlers of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) when he was the prime minister.
Anwar said that he, as Finance Minister, had just signed the relevant approval document at the end of June.
"Today the former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin made a statement that the PM is lying because this matter has been completed since 2021.
"I just signed. The Finance Minister signed the approval. So you have already done this in 2021; how did you finish?" he said when speaking at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in Sintok today.
He said he did not deny that there was an agreement on the settlement of the debt involved during Muhyiddin's term, but it was not resolved.
"There was an agreement before, but it is not finished. The 2021 Perikatan Nasional (PN) budget and the 2022 PN budget have no provision to settle and approve Felda's debt.
"I stand by this record only because in Madani Budget 2023 I handed over RM990 million in initial allocation to settle the debt of Felda settlers, which totaled RM8.3 billion," he said.
Muhyiddin had previously accused Anwar of lying regarding the disposal of Felda settlers' debts.
He, who is also the Chairman of the PN, also denied the claims of Tambun MPs, who accused him of not implementing the disposal of the debt while administering the government.
He said, as confirmed by the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in his answer in Parliament on Feb 23, 2023, that the settlement of the Felda settlers' debt was implemented in 2021.