PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin has drawn brickbats for pledging to consider introducing another Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawal scheme if the coalition wins the general election (GE15).
Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and former Klang MP Charles Santiago said the amount of savings EPF account holders have was already low after the various withdrawal schemes announced in the past two years.
Santiago accused Muhyiddin of being an “ignorant” prime minister candidate, adding that past EPF withdrawal schemes essentially forced many into “old-age poverty”.
“They will be forced to work an additional seven years to make up for the losses or live in poverty.
“With the soaring cost of living today, how will they manage to feed themselves when their retirement funds are gone?” the DAP man said in a series of Twitter posts.
Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq maintained that EPF withdrawals were not a form of government aid as members would be withdrawing their own money.
The former Muar MP said offering the people’s own EPF savings as an “election goodie” was irresponsible and would negatively affect account holders in the long-term.
“I strongly object to this as an election pledge,” he said in a Facebook post.
In launching PN’s manifesto on Sunday, Muhyiddin had said PN would consider another EPF withdrawal scheme, claiming there were many who have been requesting it.
He said it would be implemented in a targeted manner and take into consideration whether account holders have sufficient funds for their retirement.
In August, deputy finance minister Shahar Abdullah said about RM145 billion had been withdrawn by EPF members following the earlier withdrawal schemes.
He added that EPF members’ savings were at a low and “very worrying” level.
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