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KUALA LUMPUR: A number of Perikatan Nasional (PN) ministers and leaders have been seen walking in and out of a prominent hotel here for a meeting believed to focus on the 2021 Budget.
Prime Minister Muhyiddn Yassin, who yesterday urged MPs to put aside their political differences to approve the budget during the next session of Parliament, arrived at 12:20 pm.
Other attendees at the meeting included Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang, and Transport Minister and MCA President Wee Ka Siong. All of them have since left.
Sarawak Chief Minister and GPS Chairman Abang Johari Openg, PBS Chairman Maximus Ongkili and MIC Chairman S Vigneswaran also left the meeting.
An informed source said the meeting was to ensure support for the 2021 Budget, which will be presented on Friday.
“It is normal for the leaders of the governing parties to meet before any parliamentary session,” said the source.
The Minister of Industry and International Trade, Mohamed Azmin Ali, and the deputy of Pasir Puteh, Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh of PAS, are among those who entered around 3 pm.
The PN coalition has a slim majority in Parliament and there has been intense speculation that MPs could vote against the budget, which would automatically lead to the resignation of Muhyiddin and his cabinet and pave the way for a general election.
Istana Negara rejected the government’s call to declare a state of emergency last Sunday. On Monday, Muhyiddin held a meeting with party and cabinet chiefs in Putrajaya, with a PN member who told the FMT that the meeting was to seek budget support.
The source said that not all Umno MPs support the 2021 Budget as there are factions within the party pushing for new elections.
Speaking in a nationally televised speech yesterday, Muhyiddin said he hoped that “all MPs can put aside political differences to ensure that the 2021 Budget is passed in the interests of the people and the country.”
