Khalid Samad: Perikatan’s Budget 2021 clearly drafted in a rush as govt was focused on declaring emergency

(MMO) – Former Federal Territories minister Khalid Abdul Samad today claimed that the Budget 2021 was drafted hastily by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government as they were hoping for an emergency to be declared.

The Shah Alam MP said because the Budget 2021 was drafted in a hurry, it has resulted in many flaws.

“Behind their (PN) minds, there was no need for the Budget Bill to be tabled, because following their plan, they were anticipating an emergency to be declared, so the Budget would not have to be debated and they can go ahead and decide anything they want.

“When the King rejected the proposal for an emergency to be declared, they only had a few days to come up with a Budget which could be tabled,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today during his debate on the Budget 2021 Bill.

A week before Parliament sitting resumed on November 2, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah asked federal lawmakers to extend their support to the PN Budget 2021 when it is tabled.

The Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the Agong was concerned about the state of the economy and the welfare of Malaysians, which was at risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The King had also advised lawmakers to stop all political tussles and to instead focus on the welfare of the people and the wellness of the nation, so that the Budget 2021 can be passed without any interruption.

Khalid, however, pointed out that the King’s decree did not tell the MPs to support the Budget 2021 Bill without a debate.

“So I want to stress that we will reject this Budget if PN has no willpower to amend it (according to the needs of the people),” he said.