Government scores a victory in the Dewan
Victory for PN as Budget for ministries passed in committee stage
There was a ruckus, and disagreements and allegations of deceit but in the end, Budget 2021 allocations for the Prime Minister’s Department and the Finance Ministry were passed at the committee stage. This, despite bloc voting initiated by the Opposition MPs.
THE Supply Bill or Budget 2021 for the Prime Minister’s Department and the Finance Ministry was passed at the committee stage despite the bloc voting initiated by the Opposition MPs.
In the first attempt to block the Bill, the Opposition was defeated by 10 votes when 105 MPs voted aye while 95 voted nay for the allocations for the Prime Minister’s Department. Twenty MPs were absent for this round.
Initially, a voice vote was called after Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, who was the last to wrap up replies to points raised by MPs at the committee stage, finished his speech.
A bloc voting was initiated by the Opposition after 15 MPs stood up for it.
The bell was rung for two minutes to indicate the bloc voting process, followed by a 10-minute grace period before the bell was rung for two minutes for the process to begin.
At this point, the Opposition questioned why some MPs were still allowed to enter the House while the votes were being counted and demanded those who entered at the very last minute not have their votes counted.
After the votes were tallied and the final count was announced, unhappy MPs caused a ruckus and claimed the government was unfair and had cheated.
The same happened after Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz wrapped up his speech on points raised by MPs during the committee stage.
Muhamad Sabu (PH-Kota Raja) and 14 other MPs stood up to initiate a bloc vote amid murmurs among government backbenchers that “they will still lose”.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun, who took over proceedings, made a ruling that he would not allow any MPs to vote after the bell has been rung.
“I would like to say that after the bell has been rung for two minutes, and after I have announced that the voting has commenced, no other MPs can enter the House,” he said.
After several minutes, the results showed 107 had voted for the allocations for the Finance Ministry to be passed while 95 voted against it.
Only 18 MPs were absent this time around.
Several MPs were heard saying “two-zero”, indicating that the Opposition had lost twice in the attempts to block allocations for the ministries.
Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam), in a sarcastic jab, said Pakatan Harapan’s failed attempt to vote down Perikatan Nasional’s Budget 2021 via a bloc vote at the committee stage marked the beginning of the Opposition’s “sandiwara” (acting).
“Many Pakatan supporters are criticising their leaders as ‘cakap tidak serupa bikin’ (doesn’t walk the talk).
“Beginning Monday, Pakatan’s ‘sandiwara’ will start and they will object to Budget 2021 at the committee stage for every ministry to make up for their mistake last Thursday,” said Dr Wee who is Transport Minister.
Last Thursday, 13 MPs stood up for a bloc vote at the policy stage, including former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and some Parti Amanah Negara lawmakers.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Opposition parties were instructed not to hold a bloc vote for Budget 2021 at the policy stage.
He said this was done so that the MPs could study and scrutinise the overall announcement by the Finance Minister.
Anwar also suggested that the Opposition could still state its stance, including through bloc voting during the 2021 Budget debate at the committee level which kicked off yesterday.