AFTER nine days of debate, Budget 2021 will go through the third reading – the final vote – in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Approved at the policy stage on November 26, the supply bill has only undergone one change since Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz tabled it on November 6. 

The single change involved halving the initial budget of RM85.5 million to RM40.5 million for controversial propaganda unit Jasa or the Special Affairs Department, which will now be renamed J-Kom.

Although there were two more changes to the bill tabled on November 6, both are policy issues and do not involve adjusting the supply bill. 

One is allowing more people to access their Employees’ Provident Fund accounts (due to job loss or income reduction) and raising the withdrawal limit to RM10,000. The other is allowing automatic loan moratorium for the bottom 40 group and small business borrowers, albeit with minor conditions.

The changes came as a result of pressure from the opposition and a small group of Umno MPs led by former prime minister Najib Razak and president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Other demands ignored included raising the social welfare aid to RM1,000 and cuts to allocations for a civil society group linked to former PKR leaders Zuraida Kamaruddin and Mohamed Azmin Ali, who are now part of Bersatu.

Making up for November 26

At the close of yesterday’s proceedings, Dewan Rakyat had approved allocations for 25 out of 27 ministries.

While the likes of two ministries – Health, as well as the Communications and Multimedia – came under fire for their abnormal accounting practice and Jasa’s revival, none of the ministries’ budgets came under threat of not being passed.

Even the Prime Minister’s Department’s RM482 million budget increase was approved quite easily – 105 votes for to 95 against – during division voting.

Unlike previous years, there was greater scrutiny for ministry budgets at the committee-stage debate. The intense examination came about for two main reasons. 

The first is public backlash against the opposition after Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim instructed the bloc not to call for a division vote at the policy stage on November 26. 

PH supporters were angry, as weeks of chest-thumping the intent to vote down Budget 2021 led to nothing, with Anwar backing down at the last minute.

The second reason for greater scrutiny of ministry allocations this time is due to Perikatan Nasional’s own instability among its MPs – a sign of a possible revolt among its lawmakers. 

The first to fire a salvo at Budget 2021 was Najib, who said Barisan Nasional may not support the budget despite being in the government.

On top of that, there was Zahid’s open call to Putrajaya to allow confidence motions against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

In the absence of any confidence motion, a defeat of Budget 2021 would cast even bigger shadows on Muhyiddin’s support in Parliament. 

This is not the case as yet, with PN triumphing in nine ministry budgets by division vote, while the remaining 16 were passed by voice votes. 

Division voting would reveal how each MP voted as opposed to a voice vote, and PH had the opportunity to show its disapproval of the budget allocations for each ministry in division voting. 

However, the opposition was not united as all eight Warisan MPs were noticeably absent when division voting was called for these budgets.

The reason was purportedly to express unhappiness at Anwar’s leadership of PH, and to “send a message” that a new leadership was required for the opposition to move on. 

From the Prime Minister’s Department budget vote on November 30 until the Federal Territories Ministry’s yesterday, there was an average of 15 MPs who did not show up to vote.

All that, however, may be academic today as Budget 2021 faces the third reading, after the debate on the allocations for the last two ministries – Education and Higher Education – are completed.

On paper, PN has 112 MPs while the opposition has 108, after the deaths of Batu Sapi and Gerik MPs Liew Vui Keong and Hasbullah Osman respectively.

But after what happened to former Perak menteri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu a week ago, anything could still happen today.

Old rivals Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah have already said they are ready to unite and facilitate a new unity government if the PN government fails to pass the Budget 2021 vote today.

With Tengku Razaleigh, an Umno stalwart, openly stating his defiance not to support the budget even though his party is part of the government, full support from the 112 MPs on PN’s side is not a guarantee.

Under the Westminster convention, a budget defeat is akin to losing confidence in the government of the day.

Although some government leaders will deny this, in the eyes of the public, the government will have lost the confidence of its own lawmakers. – December 15, 2020.