KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition Chief, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat that the increment of gambling centres by the Malay Muslim Government is something shocking for the opposition.
According to him, during the reign of Pakatan Harapan (PH) for 22 months, the number of special draws was reduced from 22 draws to only eight draws per year.
However, since the Perikatan Nasional (PN) took over the government via the Sheraton Move, the number of special draws has been increased to its original state of 22 draws.
“It is rather shocking, I got the information from the police reports and media statements, there is an increment of gambling centres by the current Malay Muslim government.
“It increased shockingly at around 62 gambling clubs and most of them involved the Malays who are Muslims.
“To my understanding, once you are a member of the club, you are allowed to place bets and the number of Malay Muslim members in these gambling clubs have reached thousands of people or 45 percent from the number of these clubs,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He also wanted the Minister of Finance to explain about those cases, which he described as an open violation by the current government.
To him, there are efforts by certain quarters to protect the facts, at the same time, he demanded for the government to explain in detail on the number of slot machines and Malay membership.
He said, the government cannot deny those facts as they are in the record of the MySejahtera application of the relevant parties.
Anwar also requested the Finance Minister and the police, especially the Criminal Investigation Department to investigate the claims based on the police report lodged by the public and video recordings.
“I understand that when it involves huge interests, huge companies and extremely wealthy bosses, the actions may be slow,” he said while questioning why massive gambling companies can move as they wish, including by inviting the elite Malays in joining them in those activities.
“I also want to know about the actions taken by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB). If the agency checks on the financial position of those companies and what actions have they taken?
“I want this explanation as a big part of the approval of license to the gambling companies was made by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government before GE14,” he said.
He further emphasized that the government and Finance Ministry must take serious action on gambling, special draws and granting gambling licenses as they involve funds and large financial assistance to certain parties. -MalaysiaGazette
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