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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s first federal budget survived a Parliament vote on Thursday (November 26), ensuring the continuity of his administration amid continued political uncertainty in the country.
The 2021 budget was surprisingly approved by voice vote at second reading in Parliament, and the opposition failed to gather the 15 members of Parliament needed to request a block vote. It will now move into a three-week committee discussion stage before a third and final reading is approved.
At RM322.5 billion (S $ 106 billion), the budget will be Malaysia’s largest ever.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) pact had just 113 deputies, one more than the 112 needed for a simple majority, when it first presented the budget on November 6.
The spending plan had even drawn criticism from his government allies Barisan Nasional (BN), who hold the largest number of seats in the PN.
BN deputies unanimously endorsed the bill on Thursday, after weeks of public statements indicating that their support for the expansive budget would be conditional on certain demands being met.
Some of these demands, as well as requests from opposition parliamentarians, were honored, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said on Thursday, announcing various budget changes.
These included improvement measures to address the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, such as allowing more individuals and businesses to be eligible for waivers of loan repayment and withdrawals from the state pension fund, as well as the allocation of more funds for first-rate workers. line and Sabah. state, one of the most affected by the virus.
Datuk Seri Zafrul also announced that the 85.5 million ringgit originally allocated for a revived government propaganda unit would be reduced, after parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle deemed it a misplaced priority.
Muhyiddin, in a statement, thanked lawmakers who supported the bill, especially those in his Perikatan Nasional coalition.
He noted that the eleventh hour changes in the budget were a sign that the NP government was “open to different opinions and criticisms.”
Despite spending the last few weeks expressing their displeasure with the Budget, a large majority of the opposition deputies chose not to object or even force a division or bloc voting process, which means counting the votes for and against. of the bill.
Thursday’s proceedings also showed dissonance within the 108-member opposition bloc.
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who heads Parti Pejuang Tanah Airku, was one of 13 MPs who opposed the budget.
He was joined by some lawmakers from Parti Amanah Negara, which is a member of the Pakatan Harapan coalition led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The other two parties in PH, Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Democratic Action Party (DAP), chose not to oppose the budget. PKR and DAP have 80 MP between them.
Both PKR and DAP had previously said they would back the budget if their demands for an extension of a loan moratorium, among others, are met. While Zafrul’s new concessions did not fully meet those demands, they somehow addressed and directed aid for Malaysians affected by Covid-19.
Last month, Muhyiddin sought an emergency declaration from the King, which would have allowed him to bypass parliamentary approval of the budget and avoid an early election if he lost the budget vote.
The king rejected the proposal, but urged all lawmakers to pass the budget to help the government weather the pandemic, which has sent millions of people into partial lockdowns since October.
The Royal Palace on Thursday thanked lawmakers who it said “supported Her Majesty’s advice” in helping to pass the budget.
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