Anwar appealed to allies to let budget pass first vote, vows fight at committee stage

 

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said he had appealed to Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng not to proceed with a bloc vote on Budget 2021 at the policy stage in Parliament today.

This is as he did not want to be seen as rejecting new incentives announced by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

However, he vowed that they will be calling for bloc votes during the committee stage when they debate each ministry's budget one by one.

Budget 2021 today passed with a voice vote, while bloc gambit failed to get the necessary support to proceed.

Explaining his actions after a meeting with Pakatan Harapan MPs, Anwar said that the coalition remains opposed to Perikatan Nasional's budget.

This as core issues such as an "unrealistic" revenue estimate had not been addressed by Zafrul.

"But what he did was to announce additional grants and allowances for frontliners, farmers, fisherfolk etc.

"That complicates the issue, I don't want to be seen as ignoring the fact the minister has taken some measures [...] which could be more acceptable to the rakyat.

"Although my colleagues Lim and Mohamad had strong views, I appealed to them, given the task, for now, we should allow it (the budget) to go on," he told reporters at the Dewan Rakyat lobby today.

Sources told Malaysiakini that Anwar's decision not to proceed with a bloc vote was made at the last minute.

Following this, there was a heated two-hour meeting.

"It took a long a time because people (MPs) were either bombarding him (Anwar) or defending him," said a Harapan MP present at the meeting.

"Anwar's decision had put everyone in a very difficult position."

Sources said Mohamad was "furious and upset" at the PKR chief, while the DAP was "very unhappy".

Speaking to reporters, Anwar said the decision today did not mean that Harapan would allow the budget to pass at the committee stage or the final reading.

"We have decided to ask for a bloc vote if any of the ministries' (budgets) clashed with our stance in terms of good governance, misappropriation, and on policies.

"We will start on Monday," he said.

Harapan, he said, also wants more detailed breakdowns on how the new measures announced by Zafrul today would affect the budget.

Zafrul today announced several measures, including expanding EPF Account 1 withdrawals to all contributors who have had their income affected this year.

The partial demands met by Umno - which had previously sent signals that it may withhold support for the budget.

The finance minister also announced that allocations for the Special Affairs Department (Jasa) will be slashed. The exact details will be announced during the committee stage.

Meanwhile, asked whether he had the numbers for a majority, Anwar replied: "We will cross it at the right time". - Mkini