Anwar says to release proof of Felda settlers debt waiver

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he will release proof that he signed a debt waiver scheme for Felda settlers. 

"I can show them. There is no need to wait 24 hours, I can do it in 12 hours. I did sign it on June 27. As to why he (former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin) did not do the work, I do not know.

"You (Muhyiddin) challenge (me) like this… fair enough, I will furnish proof that I signed (the debt waiver of RM990 million), (and) he has to apologise," he told reporters after an event in Tanjong Karang yesterday.

Anwar was responding to Muhyiddin’s demand for an open and unconditional written apology from him following Anwar’s claim that Felda settlers’ debts totalling RM8.3 billion had never been waived under Muhyiddin’s administration. 

The letter of demand dated July 18 was issued through solicitors, Messrs Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership.
 
Muhyiddin also challenged Anwar, within 24 hours of receiving the letter, to furnish signed documentation that Anwar as the finance minister had, at the end of June, signed a debt waiver scheme for Felda settlers worth RM8.3 billion. 

Anwar said before leaving for his official visit to Vietnam on Thursday, he would get treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican to give him the proof needed. 

"Insha Allah, before I leave for Vietnam tomorrow, I will call the secretary-general and ask him to provide the proof. I want him (Muhyiddin) to openly apologise," he said. 

Anwar previously claimed that under the Perikatan Nasional government’s 2021 and 2022 national budgets, there had been no allocations to resolve and dispose of Felda’s debts. 

He said it was only in the 2023 Budget that he had set aside RM990 million as an early allocation to dispose of Felda settlers’ debts worth RM8.3 billion.