{"id":4677,"date":"2018-10-26T14:33:52","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T06:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/partisosialis.org\/?page_id=4677"},"modified":"2019-10-10T15:17:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T07:17:05","slug":"no-to-goods-and-services-gst-tax","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/partisosialis.org\/en\/no-to-goods-and-services-gst-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"No to Goods and Services (GST) Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

PSM was the first political party to oppose the Goods and Services Tax.<\/strong> \u00a0From the beginning stage, when the government mooted the idea of a consumer tax, PSM had a protest in front of the Finance Ministry in Putrajaya in 2005. <\/span><\/p>\n

An coalition was formed in the end of 2013 amongst unions and civil society groups and other opposition parties, with PSM being the secretariat. \u00a0The campaign was launched on 30<\/span>th<\/span> December,2013 and various other activities were planned. \u00a0PSM organized a nationwide roadshow , distributing leaflets and having talks around the country. \u00a0The campaign pushed for a big rally for May day on 1<\/span>st<\/span> May, 2014. Thousands have gathered in downtown Kuala Lumpur to protest against the Goods-and-Services Tax (GST) to be introduced next year. Fololowing the successful rally , several other direct actions were held . One if it was when \u00a0Government through its agencies has a huge GST Expo from the 1-3rd October 2014 at KL Convention Centre. Thus in order to intensive the resistance againts GST , the coalition is planned a leafletting campaign on the 1st & 2nd October 2014 in front of KL Convention Centre .<\/span><\/p>\n

Another protest was organized by PSM and the Coalition on the 8<\/span>th<\/span> October, 2014, during the Parliament session. Clad in red, some 200 protesters gathered in front of the Parliament building to object the Goods and Services Tax (GST). We first assembled at Tugu Negara, then marched towards the parliament gate while singing songs, chanting slogans and waving red flags.The demonstrators also expressed their frustrations through creative means. Some carried pots filled with sand and held up placards reading: “Mahu bagi rakyat makan pasir?” (Want the people to east sand?).<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Another protestor knelt down in a begging position, while filled plastic bags labelled ‘car and housing loan’, ‘petrol price hike’, ‘education costs’ and ‘rising cost of goods and services’ were piled onto his back. Another round of campaigns were held to gather solidarity , by a nationwide picket at TOL gates from Penang to Johor to capture the attention of Malaysians travelling back to Chinese New Year holidays in Feb 2015. <\/span><\/p>\n

Signature campaigns were on going in a last dash to stop the GST. With the clocking ticking faster to the April 1<\/span>st<\/span> 2015 implementation of the goods and services tax, PSM announced that we wiithey will employ \u201cradical\u201d tactics to stop the new tax. A sit in protest was planned a week before the implementation of the GST on 1<\/span>st<\/span> April, 2015. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The anti-GST protest on Monday was organised by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and Gabungan Bantah GST, a coalition of activists opposed to the consumption tax. The goal of the sit-in was to get the Customs Department to answer some 100 questions on the GST which will be implemented on April 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

Police broke up the sit-in after 5pm and arrested 80 people then, while another three were arrested later that night at the candlelight vigil outside the police station. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has defended the police against criticism for arresting peaceful protesters, saying the demonstrators were “trespassers” and had acted “as if to take control of the Customs complex”. <\/span><\/p>\n

Two opposition MPs along with other people were charged with illegal assembly under the Peaceful Assembly Act at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court today after protesting against the goods and services tax (GST) at a sit-in demonstration on Monday. <\/span>The lawmakers are Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, the MP for Sungai Siput, and Kuala Krai MP Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli from PAS. All were accused of ignoring a police order to disperse at the sit-in outside the Customs Department office in Kelana Jaya.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally a total of 79 activist were charged, oout of which 50 over were PSM members and Central committee members. \u00a0The charges were soon dropped by the courts later and with the new Pakatan Harapan government elected in May 2018, they finally repealed the GST on Jun, 2018. <\/span>