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KUALA LUMPUR – After weeks of uncertainty, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s first federal budget, the largest in the country’s history, overcame a final hurdle to be ratified by Parliament on Tuesday (December 15), after survive a parliamentary vote.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s government was backed by 111 MPs, compared to 108 MPs who voted against, after the federal opposition triggered a split voting procedure.
The RM322.5 billion (S $ 105 billion) budget will now go to the Upper House, the Senate, for ratification, before it goes into effect.
However, Upper House approvals are generally a formality in the Malaysian legislature.
Muhyiddin’s victory comes after renewed doubts about his majority in the week before the final budget vote.
Earlier this week, it was once again speculated that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had managed to secure the backing of several MPs from the Umno government to undo the majority of Muhyiddin, although this was later denied by Parti’s communications chief. Keadilan Rakyat, Fahmi Fadzil.
Datuk Seri Anwar, president of the PKR, has been demanding a parliamentary majority for the past three months and even had an audience with the King of Malaysia, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, in October to convince the ruler of his majority claim.
On Monday, Muhyiddin’s predecessor, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, also indicated a possible budget failure by announcing that he was partnering with a senior government MP, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, to offer government formation should it fail. budget.
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