KUALA LUMPUR: The First Meeting of the First Session of the 15th Parliament earlier this week marked an important milestone in the history of the Unity Government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

On the first day of the meeting last Monday, Anwar's legitimacy as the country's 10th Prime Minister was proven when the motion on the vote of confidence brought forth by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof was passed via a voice vote.

The result of the vote was announced by the newly-elected Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul.

The Opposition's allegations that the motion was very much influenced by the Cooperation Agreement Among Coalitions in the Unity Government, which they claimed was a mechanism of force on the Members of Parliament, were clearly answered by the Minister of Law and Institutional Reforms Datuk Seri Azalina Othman.

She said although the vote of confidence on the Prime Minister was not compulsory, the government itself had taken the initiative to table the motion and that it did not violate the Federal Constitution and was valid.

The first day of the meeting also saw the election of Johari as the new Speaker to replace Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.

The former Gurun assemblyman garnered 147 votes against the other nominee, former Home Minister Tan Sri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad who obtained only 74 votes.

Johari's name was proposed by Anwar for the Government, while Mohd Radzi was nominated by the opposition leader, Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.

Azhar Azizan left the Speaker's post vacant when he stepped down on Dec 18 after holding the post from July 13, 2020.

Meanwhile, Cameron Highlands MP Datuk Ramli Md Nor and Lanang MP Alice Lau were elected as Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speakers with 148 and 146 votes, respectively.

The other candidate, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin only garnered 74 votes.

Good news for the people started pouring in on the second day as the mini budget through the Consolidated Fund (Expenditure on Account) Bill 2022 involving an allocation of almost RMRM107.72 billion was passed to cover part of the government service expenditure for 2023.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, when tabling the mini budget, announced that the government will proceed to give an additional RM100 to the annual salary increment (KGT) to civil servants Grade 11 to 56 and also the Special Financial Assistance of RM700 to 1.3 million civil servants, as well as RM350 to one million government pensioners.

Apart from that, he said the government had also agreed to give early schooling aid of RM150 to all students regardless of their parents' income levels, and an additional RM200 in the Monson Season Aid for smallholders, in January.

Anwar said the Bill was necessary as this gave temporary Parliamentary approval for the government to spend a portion of the national budget for government services during the months prior to the retabling and passing of the Supply Bill for 2023.

The Supply Bill which was prepared by the previous government led by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has not been approved or debated in the Dewan Rakyat following the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10.

The government service expenditure, among others, includes payments of emoluments for civil servants, utilities, scholarships, social welfare aid as well as education and health services.

-- BERNAMA