MPs Say The Darnest Things, Reactions After Yesterday’s Chaos
We take a look at the reactions from both the government and opposition sides.
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After the Budget was passed on a policy level yesterday with the committee debates to start on Monday, we take a look at the responses from politicians about what happened in Parliament.
Opposition tries to explain why they didn’t stand up and Mahathir is fuming
PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim posted his press conference after the Parliament session explaining that the Opposition didn’t stand up because they agree with certain aspects of the budget such as allocation for the poor and unemployed.
He said they will oppose certain aspects of the budget which will be debated on a Committee level next Monday.
Ulasan saya dan pimpinan Pakatan Harapan terkait keputusan undian Peringkat Dasar Rang Undang-Undang Perbekalan (Belanjawan) 2021. #Parlimen #DewanRakyat #Belanjawan2021
— Anwar Ibrahim (@anwaribrahim) November 26, 2020
Video penuh: https://t.co/HGFTeaYWVz pic.twitter.com/zjianqjU2z
DAP Parliament Leader Anthony Loke echoes the opposition leader’s comments yesterday with a Facebook post explaining why DAP followed Anwar Ibrahim to not stand up.
He also said that if they were to stand up yesterday, the government will use it against them by saying that Pakatan Harapan disobeyed the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s advice, did not want the salaries of civil servants to be paid, did not support assistance to the B40 group, and restricted living allowances for farmers and fishermen.
Former Prime Minster Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed stands with his decision to completely reject the budget and said that when there’s only 13 non-Government MPs who stood against the 2021 Budget, a bloc vote could not be cast as it required 15 members.
He said that when this happens, it means that the Government elected by the people can be overthrown in the middle of the road and replaced with a back door Government and elections are now meaningless.
Lim Kit Siang also chimed in on the issue, saying that Pakatan Harapan decided on 25 November to object to the 2021 Budget by calling for a division and vote against the 2021 Budget yesterday but Anwar Ibrahim chose to not stand up instead, a decision which he said left him in the dark.
The veteran politician said that some of the reasons could be the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s advice to support Budget 2021 and the winding-up speech by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz where he announced extra goodies.
What about the government side?
Tan Sri Muhyiddin lauds Members of Parliament and said that the passing of the Bill on a policy level shows their political maturity to make important decisions by placing the welfare, safety of life and well-being of the people as a priority over other things.
Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Datuk Takiyuddin shared a diagram of the MPs who support the budget.
It shows that 111 MPs supported the bill which is largely considered to be a proxy vote of confidence without bloc voting to prove otherwise.
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