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KUALA LUMPUR: Ministers do not need to accept a pay cut amid the Covid-19 pandemic, says Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof.
“The Perikatan Nasional administration has already given up two months of salary,” said the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department at the end of ministerial responses on the 2021 budget at the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (November 23).
He said the gesture by the prime minister, ministers and vice ministers to accept a two-month pay cut reflected the government’s responsibility to do its part amid the pandemic.
In March, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the 32 members of the Perikatan Cabinet and the 38 vice ministers would have two months of their salary automatically deducted and channeled to the Covid-19 Fund.
Several MPs called on the prime minister, ministers and the deputy minister to accept a pay cut during the 2021 budget debates last week.
Among them was Langkawi Tun MP Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who suggested the government should consider a 30% pay cut for ministers to cut unnecessary spending in the 2021 budget.
In response to questions about an increase in the allocation for the Prime Minister’s Department from RM7.9 billion this year to RM11.7 billion in the 2021 Budget, Redzuan this was due to the department taking on broader responsibilities.
“The increase is due to the restructuring of government agencies where 65 were placed under the responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Department compared to 56 agencies previously,” he said.
He also said that there was no need to reduce the number of ministers or deputies, as the Covid-19 pandemic had increased the government’s workload and had not decreased it, as some deputies claim.
Redzuan also attacked Khalid Samad (PH-Shah Alam) for claiming that Perikatan’s 70-member cabinet was inflated.
He said there were only 32 ministers sitting in the Cabinet, while the 38 deputy ministers are not included.
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