KUALA LUMPUR — Tolls are not good for Malaysians and should be abolished, said Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday (Feb 22), as he went on electioneering mode and took a swipe at his biggest political opponent.

Speaking at a Budget 2018 forum on the economy, he said that unlike his predecessor – whom he did not name – he did not believe in tolls.

“Wherever I can, I will abolish toll because I don’t think it’s good. It causes heartaches and traffic jams,” he said, adding tolls should only be on major expressways such as the North-South Highwat and the Karak Expressway as the public would only use them once in a while.

“But if you are paying tolls daily, twice, four times, anyone would be upset,” he said.

“So, I don’t believe that. My predecessor was a great believer in toll. I do not like toll. Which is why there is no toll on the Pan Borneo Highway for the people of Sabah and Sarawak. Batu Tiga, Sungai Rasau, Bukit Kayu Hitam, EDL (Eastern Dispersal Link), we abolished (toll collections) there,” he added to applause from the audience.

“I will have to unravel some legacy problems, I will unravel whatever I think is not of the interest of the people of Malaysia. That I will do.”

Mr Najib went on say that his administration had already unravelled an independent power producer deal that arose from “the very unpopular privatisation” of the National Electricity Board.

“I call it a sweetheart deal. Imagine, we don’t use the energy and we have to pay for it. What on earth kind of a privatisation agreement is that? Ridiculous. So we reviewed it,” he said.

He also cited how Proton – a pet project of his mentor turned nemesis Mahathir Mohamad - had to be restructured to be competitive.

“You cannot survive by only selling 70,000 cars. So we supported Proton by giving it RM1.5 billion. Some RM3 billion was injected into Proton. We make sure that Proton will survive. We also rescued MAS,” he added, referring to Malaysia Airlines.

Mr Najib had previously called Dr Mahathir “the father of all tolls”, accused the former prime minister of entering into agreements that benefited cronies at the expense of the people during his time in power.

Last month, Dr Mahathir defended the need for toll charges in Malaysia, saying that they were necessary to defray the costs of building and maintaining expressways and roads.

“If there were no tolls, it will be hard to maintain the North-South Expressway,” he said.

In his wide-ranging forum on Thursday, Mr Najib also touched on how as the leader of a nation, he has to make unpopular decisions sometimes, such as imposing the 6 per cent Goods and Services Tax in 2015.

“It’s not easy to become prime minister. People always look at the nice part. Wah, (travel with a) motorcade. That is just the outside,” he said.

“The anguish you face… (with) the kind of tough decisions you have to make. And you know it’s the right decision.”

Observers say the rising cost of living is likely to be a key issue in the upcoming election, which must be held by August 2018.

The Pakatan Harapan opposition pact led by Dr Mahathir has vowed to abolish the unpopular GST if it comes into power.

During Thursday’s forum, Mr Najib called on Malaysians to differentiate between high living costs and lifestyle spending.

He said they had a choice, and suggested they spend within their means.

Mr Najib compared dining at a hotel’s Japanese restaurant and a nasi kandar restaurant.

“Lifestyle (spending is), for example, when we go to a Japanese restaurant in a well-known hotel, where you have to pay, say RM800 (S$270.44) to RM1,000 per person, depending on what you order.

“But if you go to a 24-hour mamak, how much would the meal cost?” he said, to which programme moderator Fizo Omar replied: “RM8.”

Mr Najib said he was not preventing Malaysians from enjoying a higher quality of life, but was merely reminding them about making choices that were within their means.

“It is about choice, actually lifestyle is about choice, making the (right) choice. If you make the right choice InsyaAllah (God willing) you will be able to manage.”

On a personal note, Mr Najib also revealed that he has taken to eating quinoa instead of rice in a bid to stay healthy.

He said he could not exercise as frequently as he wanted to, and so, he has to watch his diet by replacing the staple Malaysian grain with the healthier quinoa.

“(I don’t exercise) as often as I’d like to. I like to eat. My problem is, I love food, like most Malaysians,” he said.

“But, I have to control (what I eat). For example, I don’t eat rice, but quinoa. My son introduced me to quinoa, a food from Peru.

“It is protein-based, so it has less carbohydrates and a lower sugar content. It is better than rice,” he added.

“I’m trying to find out whether we can grow quinoa or its equivalent in Malaysia. It’s healthier than rice.” AGENCIES