MUHYIDDIN Yassin’s government will be caught in a spot if the opposition rejects the bill for the coronavirus economic stimulus package when it comes before parliament, constitutional lawyer Lim Wei Jiet said today.

He said this could be a potential issue for the government as it has announced and delivered the three packages without tabling a supplementary supply bill in parliament.

“Malaysia remains one of the few Commonwealth countries that have unilaterally announced through the executive whatever stimulus packages they want to combat Covid-19,” he said.

“I think the problem with this kind of manoeuvre is that some monies would already have been spent and monies have already gone into the pockets of the people, and they have already spent it on groceries, for example.

“If the opposition manages to prevent the bill from being passed, what is the government going to do? Is it supposed to clawback all those expenditures?”

Lim was a panel member at the IDEAS webinar entitled Covid-19 Stimulus Package: Delivering with Democracy.

He said from a constitutional point of view, Putrajaya will need to explain the source of funds for the RM260 billion in stimulus packages as well as its decision not to table a spending bill in parliament before making the announcement.

Prime minister Muhyiddin has said that the Perikatan Nasional government would table a supplementary supply bill on the economic stimulus packages when parliament convenes.

Lim said the more prudent measure would have been to have the bill debated and passed before implementation.

He said while the stimulus packages had to be quickly implemented given the urgency of the situation,  it was not an excuse to evade accountability and compliance to the law.

The two other panellists of the session were Subang MP Wong Chen and IDEAS Fellow Tricia Yeoh. – April 9, 2020.

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