Rafidah calls on new govt to spend responsibly, scrutinise finances

 

Veteran politician Rafidah Aziz has called on the new government to be fiscally responsible.

She said the spending during the Covid-19 pandemic has not been transparent, with the government not tabling its extra expenditure in Parliament.

"The rakyat only gets to know about the millions, hundreds of millions, and the tens of billions already spent.

"It is bad and irresponsible management and governance when the books are not open to scrutiny.

"It is hoped that the so-called 'new' government will show that responsibility and integrity in running our country," Rafidah (above) said in a Facebook post.

Previously during the state of emergency, an ordinance was enacted allowing the government to pass a supplementary budget or use consolidated funds without going through the legislature. 

Former finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz

Then finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz had assured that spending under the emergency ordinance would be published publicly, but this was panned as not meeting the standards of accountability. 

While that Perikatan Nasional government has collapsed, newly minted Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob is expected to maintain the status quo more or less.

Rafidah in her post said that all funds accessible to the government is public money and should thus be spent responsibly.

"No expenditure should be on unnecessary, frivolous, and ego-boosting events and programmes," she said. - Mkini