Bersatu questions Anwar's promise on issue of ending poverty

SHAH ALAM - Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) questions Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's promise regarding the goal of eliminating the issue of extreme poverty in this country.

Its information chief Datuk Razali Idris said after a year of promising to resolve the matter, he is now urging zakat institutions to improve the quality of services to be able to solve the problem of extreme poverty.

"A year ago, Anwar was so eager to highlight the issue of extreme poverty in this country, the people supported him.

"However, after more than a year, suddenly today he said zakat institution needs to shoulder the responsibility of solving this basic problem related to extreme poverty," he said in a Facebook post on Friday.

Previously, the media reported that Anwar urged zakat institutions in the states to improve the quality of services and governance in order to become institutions capable of solving the problem of extreme poverty in this country.

He said that the collection of zakat funds should be used to solve the basic problems of the people and not for secondary purposes.

Razali said if a promise has been made, then it needs to be fulfilled because the zakat institution has an ongoing role and function.

"Has the mission been reversed? The question now is who is eager to end the crisis of extreme poverty as soon as he takes up the position of Prime Minister?

"Is there no light to take efforts to eradicate the poor until they start diverting people's attention to the fact that the zakat institution is responsible for eliminating the stubborn poor," he said.

In addition, he also questioned Anwar's statement that efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan had reached 100 per cent status.

"Is the situation true? Who really wants to be lied to, the people or is it just an attempt to obscure us? The state of the country seems to be getting worse and worse," he said.