P.Pauh by-election campaign: Wan Azizah calls for exemption of GST on children's goods

In a media statement today, Wan Azizah said the campaign is aimed at pressuring the government to exempt children's products from the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Four categories of goods for children aged five years and below have been put forward to be classified as zero-rated.

This include - the cost of consulting a doctor, medical goods and children's vitamin, child hygiene products, children's basic items such as milk bottles and pacifiers and children's milk.

For children's items alone, PKR estimates that a young family with three children, on average pay at least RM120 in GST a month. In one year they are expected to pay a total of RM1440 worth of GST which burdens new and young families.

"Children are the hope of our family. Government policies must show the highest love for our children.

"Unfortunately, UMNO and the BN government are only interested in profit. We have found that GST is included on children's products on a wide scale. The government shows no compassion for children,” read the statement.

Wan Azizah has once again been named as the candidate for the Permatang Pauh by-election which will take place on May 7.

The by-election was called after its incumbent MP, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was disqualified as a parliamentarian following his sodomy conviction earlier in February. He is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The Permatang Pauh parliament constituency has been a PKR stronghold since 1982. Anwar had won the seat in 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1995 before he was sent to prison for six years in 1999 after being found guilty of four counts of corruption, including abuse of power.

Wan Azizah then took over as Permatang Pauh MP from 1999 until 2008 before stepping down to make way for her husband to contest the seat again after he was released in 2004.