KUCHING, Nov 27: Budget 2021 still faces another hurdle when it is tabled for Third Reading in Parliament next week, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) supreme council member Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“It is very important to get through the Second Reading of the Bill for the budget, it allows the MPs to scrutinise the details at the committee stage. This too is no less important to get the budget pass according to the government’s planning and programmes.
“(But) there is the critical Third Reading call for voting or division, by which Parliament eventually pass the budget. In other words, for now, we have cleared the first huddle, but we are not out of the wood yet,” Wan Junaidi commented on the Second Reading of Budget 2021 which was read for the second time in Parliament yesterday.
Additionally, the Santubong MP thanked the opposition MPs who did not stand up to demand the “division votes count”.
“Only 13 MPs from the opposition bench stood up, but the required minimum is 15 MPs for the Speaker to call for division and vote count. With the failure, the voice support was taken and in favour of the government,” he said.
Wan Junaidi, who is also Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, reiterated that the budget’s main objectives apart from providing for salaries of the civil service, agencies and development were also to address the Covid-19 pandemic and to spur the economy resulting from the Movement Control Order (MCO) and weakened global economy.
Delay in the budget means delay to all strategic projects implementation like Pan Borneo Highway in Sarawak and Sabah and others such like projects throughout the country.
This will worsen the economy as a whole. What about millions of SME/SMI including informal businesses that cannot get support and assistance from the government? The unemployment and livelihood of millions of B40 and joblessness?” he stressed.
As such, Wan Junaidi said, any MP who did not support the budget appeared to block the government’s good intention to help the nation and the rakyat.
“If it’s true, the MP is in trouble not by anyone but his choice of support in the Dewan. But this could not be translated into the support to PM or PN government on other issues, which is of a different perspective.
“Nevertheless, the good budget of 2021 reflects the PM’s good leadership, thus eventually leads to good rating by the people and electorates,” he added. – DayakDaily
