Guan Eng calls for bloc vote on PMD budget to protest Najib's RM100m property

 

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has urged Pakatan Harapan MPs to vote in protest during Monday's Parliament session to oppose the cabinet's decision to grant former prime minister Najib Razak a RM100 million property.

The Dewan Rakyat will start the committee stage of Budget 2022 next week, in which specific allocations for each ministry will be debated and voted on.

“Even though Najib withdrew his application for political purposes so as not to affect voting sentiments in the Malacca state election, there is no guarantee he will not renew his application later.

“Whether Najib decides to apply again later for the RM100 million property, the original decision of the cabinet to grant approval is wrong and must be reversed,” Lim (above) said in a statement today.

On Nov 18, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz confirmed that the cabinet had discussed a request from Najib for a piece of land and house belonging to the government that was worth RM100 million.

It was later revealed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (Parliament and Law) that the government had agreed in principle to grant Najib his request.

He said it was Najib's right as a former prime minister under the law.

However, he noted the decision was still subject to further deliberation.

Najib said he withdrew his request before Wan Junaidi made the announcement.

Lim said the cabinet’s decision to grant the RM100 million property to Najib is “clearly wrong” and had caused mounting public anger against Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government.

“This decision makes a complete mockery of his Keluarga Malaysia concept as only benefiting their immediate political family and not all Malaysians,” the Bagan MP said.

The other issues Lim took contention with were “unfair and inadequate” Budget 2022 allocations and the government’s refusal to continue with the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project.

He said the allocations in Budget 2022 were inadequate and unfair as it was not being distributed on a needs basis regardless of race, religion, and background.

“Additional budget allocations on top of the RM332 billion in Budget 2022 that is prudent will not materially affect the debt or deficit situation but may be critical in saving lives and livelihood,” he said.

Meanwhile, he criticised the government’s decision to stop the HSR project at Johor Bahru and re-designate it as the Kuala Lumpur-Johor Bahru HSR.

Describing it as impractical and not financially viable, Lim said it would deprive Malacca, Johor, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan of economic benefits if the HSR had stopped at Singapore.

He also noted that the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project was not cancelled by the Harapan administration but by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) and BN governments.

Last Thursday, Budget 2022 passed its policy stage with a voice vote, as Warisan and Pejuang’s attempt to call for a bloc vote failed to garner support from Harapan.

There need to be at least 15 MPs in support of the call to trigger bloc voting. A bloc vote is when votes will be tallied among all MPs present and recorded in the Hansard. - Mkini