Warisan chastises Harapan for not backing bloc vote call on Budget 2022

 

Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking has chastised fellow opposition Pakatan Harapan for not joining their call for a bloc vote on Budget 2022’s policy stage, which resulted in it being approved via a voice vote in Dewan Rakyat last Thursday (Nov 18).

Leiking (above) said voting against the unfair allocations for Sabah and Sarawak in Budget 2022 must take priority over any memorandums of understanding (MOU), referring to the one signed between Harapan and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration.

“We (Warisan) believe that in view of the unexpected criticisms over the bill expressed by a majority of Sabahans… the interests of Sabahans and Sarawakians must supersede any MOU crafted and signed by political leaders from the peninsular,” he said in a statement today.

Leiking said many opposition MPs had expressed their dissatisfaction over the unfair distribution of allocations in Budget 2022 during their debates, especially the “meagre” sum received by Sabah and Sarawak.

Warisan had tried to pave the way for these dissatisfied opposition MPs to have their voices heard by calling for a bloc vote on the Budget’s policy stage on Nov 18, he said.

However, their attempt to call for a bloc vote failed because Harapan MPs did not support them.

Leiking surmised that this means the Harapan top leadership had stopped their MPs from supporting Warisan’s call for a bloc vote.

He believed it is because the leadership preferred the allocations given to them in exchange for their support for Ismail’s administration “at the detriment of the interests of the ordinary Malaysians”, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak.

As such, Leiking praised his party president Mohd Shafie Apdal for having the foresight not to enter into the MOU between Harapan and Ismail Sabri’s government.

“If the MOU was really needed, then it should have been between (Umno president) Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, (former prime minister) Najib Abdul Razak, (PAS president) Abdul Hadi Awang, (Bersatu president) Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri to ensure political stability, and not with the opposition at all,” he said.

As it is not part of the MOU, Warisan’s elected representatives do not have to “struggle with their conscience” over Budget 2022, he added.

“We see how the opposition MPs (from Harapan) now face backlash from their own supporters due to the unfair Supply Bill that was drafted just to enable the powers that be at Putrajaya to disburse the country’s consolidated funds to satisfy the wants of the biggest block of voters in Malaysia,” Leiking said. - Mkini