ALOR SETAR: Backbench MPs are free to debate the 2021 budget if they are dissatisfied, de facto parliamentary and law minister Takiyuddin Hassan said today.
He said 8 days have been allotted for the Dewan Rakyat debate at the policy level, and 11 more days at the committee level. “So until Dec 15, MPs are free to debate this budget,” he told reporters after a meeting with Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor here today.
Takiyuddin was responding to reports of dissatisfaction with the large allocation of RM81 million for the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), which has been described as a waste of funds.
Takiyuddin said the 2021 budget must be seen as an ‘extraordinary’ budget, this after taking into account the new norms, and therefore it should be accepted by all parties. There was no reason for any party to reject the budget as it should not be compared to previous ones.
“This budget cannot be compared to those in normal times (before the Covid-19 pandemic) as the government’s priority now is not only about lives but also livelihood… it involves the economy and so on, meaning a lot comes in the form of aid, and we do not expect any returns from it,” he said.
Yesterday, the youth wing of Sabah PKR expressed regret that Jasa had been allocated an allocation which it said was 27 times more than what the agency received during Barisan Nasional rule.
Its information chief Razeef Rakimin said that the allocation was a waste, especially when the country was facing the coronavirus pandemic. - FMT
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