The stimulus packages announced by the government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic without Parliament’s endorsement are irresponsible, said Sepang MP Mohamed Hanipa Maidin.
He said that as a parliamentary democracy, all government policies - including its expenditure - are expected to presented, debated and then approved or rejected by Parliament.
“Spending freely without Parliament's approval is very alien to any parliamentary democracy.
“When we talk about parliamentary democracy, we must remember that the central theme of it is the people. The people elect their parliamentarians in order to address the people's interests in the august House.
“Therein, all the government's policies are expected to be presented and in turn debated and duly approved or disapproved.
“The utter failure of the present government to have any of its economic stimulus packages duly endorsed by Parliament may be construed to be illegal bordering on a flagrant abuse of power,” the former de facto deputy law minister said in a statement today.
He said the government was bypassing Parliament out of fear that its legitimacy would be challenged in the House.
“Unfortunately, the government's extreme concern that it may be voted out via a vote of non-confidence has resulted in its irresponsible act of side-tracking Parliament when announcing the three financial stimulus packages amounting to billions of ringgits.
“We never think such things would take place in any developed democracy,” he said.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced a RM10 billion economic stimulus package dubbed "Plan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara" or "Penjana" for short.
The plan is meant to help Malaysia recover from the economic impact of Covid-19 and the measures to contain its spread.
Prior to that, the then interim prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had announced a RM20 billion stimulus package on Feb 27.
At the time, he had resigned as prime minister but was retained by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as interim prime minister while a new prime minister was being appointed. The stimulus plan was formulated by the previous Pakatan Harapan-led administration.
Muhyiddin then announced a RM250 billion stimulus package on March 27, plus additional help for small and medium enterprises in the form of free loans and grants on April 6.
None of these has been presented to Parliament thus far.
Some experts and lawmakers have previously argued that the stimulus packages should have been debated in Parliament first before being disbursed.
A parliamentary sitting in March was postponed to May 18 but there was only a royal address without any debate. Parliament’s next sitting is scheduled in July. - Mkini
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