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KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat approved the budget of the Prime Minister’s Department today through a block vote.
There were 105 in favor and 95 against, while 20 deputies did not vote. Two others, Liew Vui Keong (Batu Sapi) and Hasbullah Osman (Gerik), have died. Your seats are still vacant.
Earlier, Dewan Rakyat’s spokesperson, Azhar Azizan Harun, had called for a voice vote that saw Perikatan Nasional deputies clearly have a stronger voice.
However, the opposition MPs called for a block vote with more than 15 of them, the minimum number required, standing in a show of support.
Azhar announced the results after the votes were tallied in about 10 minutes.
Midway through the voting process, opposition MPs rose to oppose Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu) entering the room while the votes were being counted.
The Prime Minister’s Department consists of five ministries: Law, Economy, Religious Affairs, Special Functions, and Sabah and Sarawak Affairs.
Parliamentarians will now continue to debate the allocations for the other ministries, before the approval of the Supply Bill 2021 at the committee stage.
Last week, the RM322 billion budget was approved by voice vote in the political stage after opposition MPs failed to get 15 MPs to push for a block vote.
Meanwhile, the budget of the Ministry of Finance was also approved today after several deputies debated about the expenses of the ministry.
A bloc vote was carried out in which 107 deputies supported the budget, 95 voted against it, while 18 deputies were absent during the 10-minute vote.
The Ministry of Finance received RM 35.1 billion in the 2021 budget, RM 20.8 billion for administrative expenses and RM 14.1 billion for development expenses.
