Three PAS MPs break ranks with party in vote against Budget 2016

(Malay Mail Online) – Three PAS members today broke ranks with their party leadership which had decided to abstain from voting against Putrajaya’s Budget 2016 in the Dewan Rakyat.

The trio – Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar (pic), Kubang Kerian MP Ahmad Baihaki Atiqullah and Pasir Puteh MP Datuk Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad joined their fellow opposition MPs from Pakatan Harapan in voting against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2016 Budget during the winding up of debates on the matter at the policy stage.

‘‘I voted against the budget because I love the people and I do not want a budget that troubles them.

“My other party colleagues were essentially also against the budget since they did not vote in support of it..it is essentially the same thing,” Mahfuz told reporters in the Dewan Rakyat lobby here.

He said that he is also not worried about the possibility of being penalised by his party, claiming to not deviate from PAS’ stand.

“They decided not to vote for the budget and I voted against it,” he added.

PAS has 14 seats in the Dewan Rakyat and out of the number, four were absent while the remaining seven chose to abstain.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang recently said that the party’s MPs will abstain from voting on Budget 2016, a position that was echoed by their Pasir Mas MP Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz.

Earlier today the House voted 128 to 74 in favour of passing the budget’s first reading, after a marathon day of winding up speeches by six ministers to round up the list of 31 ministers responding to points raised during the debate.

The result was expected as there are only 71 MPs from Pakatan Harapan, excluding a vote from DAP’s Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang who has been suspended from Parliament, out of the 222-seat Parliament.

Budget 2016 will now proceed to the committee stage debate, scheduled to start tomorrow morning.