THE opposition failed in its attempt to defeat the allocation to the Finance Ministry during the committee stage after calling for division of the house.

The Finance Ministry’s allocation was approved by 107-95 votes.

No one abstained but 18 lawmakers were absent.

The latest bloc vote came after the opposition failed to defeat the allocations for the Prime Minister’s department.

Missing from chambers on the government side were Najib Razak (Pekan-BN), Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Bagan Datuk-BN), Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang-BN) and Jeffrey Kitingan (Keningau-STAR).

From the opposition were Chow Kon Yeow (Tanjong-DAP), Masir Kujat (Sri Aman-PSB), Awang Husaini Sahari (Putatan-PKR), Michael Teo (Miri-PKR), Christina Liew (Tawau-PKR).

The eight Warisan MPs from Sabah were absent.

Two of the 222 seats in Dewan Rakyat are vacant following the deaths of Liew Vui Keong (Batu Sapi) and Hasbullah Osman (Gerik). 

On paper, Perikatan Nasional (PN) has 112 MPs on its side v 108 in the opposition camp.

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition was heavily criticised last Thursday over its failure to initiate a division vote for the supply bill at policy stage.

Dewan Rakyat had approved Budget 2021 at the policy stage then with a voice vote after the bid for a division vote by the opposition fell through.

The budget for each of the 27 ministries will be debated at the committee stage until December 15, after which the Dewan Rakyat will vote on it at the third reading stage.

The opposition today repeatedly taunted the government benches by vowing to challenge the allocations for each ministry until the final vote on December 15. – November 30, 2020.