Budget 2021: Where's the support of 128 MPs as Anwar claims? - A Kadir Jasin

KUALA LUMPUR: The action of Pakatan Harapan (PH) not to ask for a bloc vote on the Supply (Budget) Bill 2021 yesterday has confused and disappointed many people, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s former Communications Advisor, Datuk A Kadir Jasin.

The veteran journalist said that the action that was reportedly driven by the decision of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, gave rise to the perception that Anwar did not have the strong and convincing support as he had claimed before.

A Kadir said if it was true that the Chairman of Pakatan Harapan has the support of 128 MPs as he had informed the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, PH can already defeat the Perikatan Nasional (PN) in a bloc vote to reject the Budget yesterday.

"Due to the strange actions of the main opposition bloc, the bill was passed at the policy stage through a majority voice vote.

“What is openly not supporting is the independent bloc of Dr Mahathir Mohamad which is also supported by several Amanah MPs.

"Meanwhile, the attempt by Pokok Sena Member of Parliament, (Datuk) Mahfuz Omar, to propose a bloc vote did not get PH support.

“It is clear that there is an instruction from the PH leadership not to cast a bloc vote,” said A Kadir in the latest post on his Facebook, today.

The Dewan Rakyat yesterday passed the 2021 Budget at the policy stage when more MPs supported via a majority voice vote as opposed to those who did not.

But Mahfuz's attempt to propose a bloc vote failed when only a quorum of 15 MPs needed to support the motion, failed to garner the required support.

The situation has angered PH supporters for claiming that Opposition MPs were not committed to objecting to the passage of the bill.

Commenting further, A Kadir said, the approval of Budget 2021 at the policy stage gave the opportunity to PN to make the perception that it was fully passed.

"The Perikatan Nasional which is hungry for victory then makes it look like the 2021 Budget has been passed.

“People who are ignorant of the rules of the House may believe that the 2021 Budget has been passed and the Opposition has defected or admitted defeat.

"The answer is, the 2021 Budget has not been passed. There are two or three more stages before the final voting scheduled for December 17,” he added.

Apart from that, A Kadir said, Anwar's action of presenting evidence of support for himself while at the Istana Negara, but not realised in the Dewan Rakyat, will bring the problem of trust deficit against him.

“The factor in complying with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's advice is quite interesting. If it is true that Anwar has presented evidence of 128 SDs supporting him, then His Majesty's response is the determinant of the Opposition Leader's future.

"So he must be careful not to infuriate His Majesty," A Kadir added.