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PUTRAJAYA: PKR Secretary General Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says that it is still too early for the opposition to say whether or not it will support the 2021 budget when it comes before Parliament on November 6.
He said the meeting between Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz was only the first step.
“Today is the first step in the negotiations. Tengku Zafrul also said that he was prepared to have more meetings with us.
“It is a process. For our part, we have given our recommendations.
“So with our support, it is too premature for us to answer that at this point,” he told reporters after the meeting at the Finance Ministry today.
In a statement issued after the meeting, PH said its first recommendation was to increase the health ministry’s resources for Covid-19 and non-communicable diseases, and stressed that there had to be a “special” allocation to address the Covid crisis. 19 in Sabah.
As well as expanding social protection, safety net and welfare payments for the vulnerable and unemployed by increasing monthly welfare aid to RM1,000, they also expected to see an increase in the number of people signing up for the E-Kasih and the Employment Insurance Program).
They also sought more funding to address the problems of domestic abuse, mental health problems, elder abuse and poor child nutrition.
His third point was an extension of the loan moratorium until March 31 of next year.
The fourth was a suggestion that the wage subsidy be held until March 31 of next year, as this would create 600,000 jobs under the [email protected] , which offers two-year incentives for employers and employees, at a cost of RM13 billion.
The coalition’s fourth proposal also included a focus on creating green jobs and green infrastructure and a ‘carrot and stick approach’ for sectors that are doing well, such as medical gloves and medical devices, to increase the number of local workers.
PH’s fifth proposal was an increase in spending on education to ensure continuity by improving and increasing resources for online class delivery and creating a curriculum repository system for students to learn from home.
The proposal also called for an increase in the number of support teachers and classrooms to meet social distancing requirements in schools.
His final proposal was for development expenses for two key projects, namely the National Fiberization Connectivity Plan (NFCP) and the improvement of the water infrastructure for Selangor, Kelantan and Pahang.
“We hope that these recommendations are accepted and incorporated into the Budget.
“We now await responses from the government in this consultative process,” said the joint statement by Saifuddin, DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng and Amanah Chairman Mohamad Sabu.
“This ‘Unit Budget’ is crucial to upholding the royal decree rejecting an emergency proclamation for the country and preventing an early general election, which will only worsen the current third wave of Covid-19 infections.”
