Yeoh singles out BN and PAS MPs for trying to defeat welfare budget

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh have singled out 28 BN and PAS MPs for trying to defeat her ministry's budget.

Yeoh said her ministry's budget is intended for, among others, disabled persons, the elderly and children.

"They are critical to communities that need help and cannot afford delays.

"But I was shocked to see MPs playing politics by voting against the budget for welfare," she told journalists at the Parliament lobby today.

On Tuesday night, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry's budget was nearly defeated after opposition MPs, upon realising the thin numbers of government MPs, decided to pull off an ambush by asking for a bloc vote.

Normally, motions and legislations that do not require a two-thirds majority can be passed through a "voice vote", where the most "ayes" will be considered to be the winning vote.

However, MPs can force the House to manually count everyone's vote by forcing a bloc vote, which can be done if at least 15 MPs supports this.

The bloc vote narrowly passed by only four votes, with 32 MPs voting in favour and 28 MPs voting against during the first of a series of votes at the committee stage for the ministry's budget.

PKR chief whip Johari Abdul (below) said he had anticipated the ambush after spotting opposition MPs who do not normally stay back late in the Dewan Rakyat.

He said the government MPs' thin numbers were due to fatigue but added that it was not an excuse.

Subsequent votes that night saw better numbers after the scare, with 45 MPs voting in favour as more rushed in the boost their numbers.

Yeoh said if her ministry's budget was defeated, it will also affect the welfare allocation of the MPs who had voted against it.

"It is regretful. Why do they disagree with aid for the poor, disabled and elderly?

"This is not for some mega project but to help the poor," she said.

Meanwhile, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan (below) defended the move by three MPs from his party to join with 25 other BN MPs in voting down the ministry's budget.

He added that if the Harapan government viewed the budget seriously, then it wouldn't have so few MPs present.

"If they support it, why did they only have 32 MPs present?

"We did not support it because Harapan too was not fully in support of it as not many came to support," he told journalists at the Parliament lobby today.

He added that if the budget failed, it would be the Harapan government's failure and not the opposition.

"We took the advantage to show that this government is weak. That is all. That is the intention of the opposition. They are a failed government," he said.

Yeoh today furnished the list of MPs who voted against the budget.

They are as follow:

1. Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (Rantau Panjang - PAS)
2. Wan Hassan Mohd Rami (Dungun - PAS)
3. Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (Sik - PAS)
4. Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam - MCA)
5. M Saravanan (Tapah - MIC)
6. Mahdzir Khalid (Padang Terap - Umno)
7. Annuar Musa (Ketereh - Umno)
8. Reezal Merican Naina Merican (Kepala Batas - Umno)
9. Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (Machang - Umno)
10. Ahmad Hamzah (Jasin - Umno)
11. Halimah Mohamed Sadique (Kota Tinggi - Umno)
12. Nizar Zakaria (Parit - Umno)
13. Mohd Salim Sharif (Jempol - Umno)
14. Mastura Mohd Yazid (Kuala Kangsar - Umno)
15. Ismail Sabri Yaakob (Bera - Umno)
16. Noh Omar (Tanjong Karang - Umno)
17. Noraini Ahmad (Parit Sulong - Umno)
18. Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (Lengong - Umno)
19. Ismail Mohamed Said (Kuala Krau - Umno)
20. Ahmad Maslan (Pontian - Umno)
21. Abdul Rahman Mohamad (Lipis - Umno)
22. Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (Baling - Umno)
23. Hasbullah Osman (Gerik - Umno)
24. Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Jerantut - Umno)
25. Jalaluddin Alias (Jelebu - Umno)
26. Adham Baba (Tenggara - Umno)
27. Mohd Shahar Abdullah (Paya Besar - Umno)
28. Ramli Mohd Nor (Cameron Highlands - Umno)

On a separate matter, Yeoh said her ministry is looking into reports women in poor communities cannot afford sanitary supplies for their periods with girls skipping school altogether.

"On our part, we actually don't have the official collection of data and statistics (on the matter). So, I think maybe the Education Ministry and schools need to start looking into collecting this kind of data and provide assistance to these students.

"This kind of thing shouldn't happen in Malaysia. No girls should stop school because there is period poverty," she said. - Mkini