Anwar wants special Parliament meet if GDP aim unmet

By Clara Chooi

October 10, 2011

Anwar said Najib’s deficit reduction would be false if a supplementary spending bill is tabled in the middle of 2012. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today demanded Parliament reconvene for a “special sitting” if Putrajaya fails to meet its “unreasonable” gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast.

The opposition leader today poured cold water over Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Budget 2012 tabled on Friday, claiming the prime minister’s predictions and his administration’s alleged penchant for unbridled spending would likely worsen the country’s deficit.

Anwar also predicted the Najib administration would table a supplementary supply bill by mid-2012, seeking for additional funds just as it did in June this year.

Putrajaya tabled an RM13 billion supplementary supply bill during the June parliamentary sitting for additional spending in the first half of the year, listing an extra RM6 billion spent by the Treasury, RM1.5 billion by the Education Ministry and RM1 billion by the Health Ministry.

“The Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) government should not assume the people are so easily fooled by these data used.

“The figures shown (in Budget 2012) give the picture that the deficit situation and federal debt is under control, when we are all aware of BN’s habit of tabling a supplementary supply bill by mid-year,” he told the House today when debating the Budget.

He then urged Parliament to set a condition for a special sitting to be convened should Malaysia’s economy fail to hit its 5.5 per cent growth target for 2011 and 6 per cent for the first quarter of next year.

“Dewan (Rakyat) must reconvene to slash the proposed RM232.8 billion budget tabled on October 7 and revise it to RM220 billion, as proposed in Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) alternative budget,” he said.

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