Anwar lying about Felda debt disposal, says Muhyiddin

Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin today criticised Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, calling him unfit to remain as prime minister over the latter's "blatant lies" regarding the unresolved debt of Felda settlers.

Muhyiddin, in a statement on Facebook, denied Anwar's claims accusing him of not implementing the disposal of Felda's debt during his Perikatan Nasional administration.

He said the resolution of Felda settlers' debt was implemented during his tenure as prime minister, and that this was confirmed by the minister in the Prime Minister's Department in a parliamentary response on Feb 23, who stated that the resolution of Felda settlers' debt was carried out in 2021.

"However, due to Felda's cash flow constraints under the PH (Pakatan Harapan)-BN (Barisan Nasional) government, the continuous implementation of the debt resolution faced obstacles.

"I'm not the kind of person who likes to lie and break promises.

"It's Anwar who likes to lie and not fulfill his promises," he said in the statament.

His response came after Anwar, at the Felda Settlers' Day celebration in Serdang yesterday, said Muhyiddin's administration announced that it would waive the loans of Felda settlers amounting to RM8.3 billion but the move was never implemented.

Anwar said the coalition government has taken steps to resolve the settlers' debt to ease their burden and restore Felda's status.

He also said the government will continue the deferred financing of Felda sukuk by allocating funds of up to RM1 billion per year for the next 10 years to Felda.

During his tenure as prime minister in 2021, Muhyiddin announced that his government agreed to dispose of a portion of the RM8.3 billion in settlers' loans to relaunch Felda, subject to certain conditions.

This was primarily for the early-generation settlers who had worked hard to ensure the success of the land development programme.

Muhyiddin also highlighted that former Felda chairman Idris Jusoh issued a statement on Feb 24, confirming that in 2021, RM8.3 billion of Felda settlers' total debt of RM12.1 billion was waived.

"With this latest falsehood, it is increasingly clear that Anwar isn't fit to remain as prime minister," he said.