PUTRAJAYA has been irresponsible in spending more money creating new cabinet posts when the public is suffering from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He today called on MPs to reject the spending bill that will only bloat government expenditure.

He said many Malaysians have lost their jobs during the movement control order, leaving them without income.

Dr Mahathir, who is Langkawi MP, said businesses and industries are bleeding money and the government will not be able to collect much taxes.

“In such situation, the government should reduce its spending so it will not have a high deficit.

“But in this bill, the government plans to increase spending. This is irresponsible,” he said when debating the Supply (Relocation of Appropriated Expenditure) Bill 2020 today.

The house will vote on the bill later today. The spending bill seeks RM7.9 billion.

The current cabinet consist of 31 ministers and 38 deputy ministers that came about after Perikatan Nasional took over Putrajaya in March.

“When we have a lot of money, we can spend but when we have a little, we should spend less.

“However, we find that the government has increased the numbers of ministers without considering financial capabilities.”

He said the Pakatan Harapan administration had reduced the number ministers and deputy ministers during its two-and-a-half years in office.

“Now when we are in a situation where government revenue has gone down, they (Perikatan Nasional) increased the numbers of ministers to more than 30.”

He said some have been appointed senior ministers while others are given special envoy posts with ministerial status. – August 17, 2020.