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KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian minister warned that investors might be
deterred if a fundamentalist Islamic party retains control of its
stronghold in northern Kelantan state.
“Foreign investors study the capability of the
state government first before making their investments,” Deputy
Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussin told the Bernama news agency
Wednesday, as campaigning heats up ahead of March 8 elections.
Awang Adek said controversial comments from
party leaders—including that ugly women should be given priority
in government jobs because pretty women can find rich
husbands—were not business-friendly.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last year
launched a $33.5-billion development plan for Malaysia’s poor
eastern states, including Kelantan, the only state run by the
hard-line Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS).
The East Coast Economic Corridor project, drawn
up by the national oil company Petronas, is aimed at developing
the rural Malay heartland states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang
and the district of Mersing in Johor state.
Awang Adek said the PAS state government might
not be able to attract all the promised investment under the plan,
and that it was not able to afford its election pledges.
“They can make so many promises that they are
not capable of delivering. The people will be the real losers,” he
said.
PAS holds only a wafer-thin majority in Kelantan,
a state considered a key battleground in the polls.
-- AFP
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