Malaysia opposition blasts Muhyiddin budget for short-changing key demands
- The government’s request for 322.5 billion ringgit in funds for 2021 would be a 2.5 per cent increase from 2020
- Of the six demands the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition made, only one was fulfilled: an increase in resources to battle the coronavirus pandemic
The government aims to spend 322.5 billion ringgit (about US$78 billion) in 2021 – which would be a 2.5 per cent increase from the 2020 budget – even though the country faces a deficit crunch.
Introduced on Friday by finance minister Zafrul Aziz, the budget was initially touted as a bipartisan measure in an attempt to protect it from being voted down in parliament, where the ruling Perikatan Nasional alliance holds a razor-thin majority.
Other demands, such as wage subsidy extensions and an increase in education spending, were not met satisfactorily, opposition members said.
Wong said the Finance Ministry had largely ignored Pakatan Harapan’s six key recommendations.
“Is this sayonara to the unity budget idea?” he asked.
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“Allocation for the poor and those with disabilities is small as opposed to the 80 million ringgit allocation for the propaganda unit. There is also not enough transparency on revenue figures, not enough help for the unemployed,” said Anwar, adding that it appeared as though the finance minister “cared more about banks” for not extending a loan moratorium put in place to ease the economic impact of a months-long lockdown that saw the nation sheltering in place, with many losing their jobs as a result.
“There is no clear explanation on how the economy will recover,” Anwar said.
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The budget, which will be voted on at the end of this month, includes several Covid-19 measures including increased spending on Health Ministry supplies such as protective gear and expanding tax relief to include immunisation expenses for when a vaccine is developed. It also channelled millions of ringgit into mental health measures, social centres to address the issue of rising domestic violence and the establishment of childcare centres to assist frontline workers and women.
Among its more unconventional measures is allowing Malaysians to withdraw from their compulsory federal savings scheme, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
“The amount allowed will be 500 ringgit a month with a total of up to 6,000 ringgit over 12 months. This withdrawal will assist members who have lost their jobs and is expected to lighten the financial burden of around 600,000 affected contributors,” Zafrul said in his budget speech.
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Last month, the nation’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, called on all politicians to come together on the budget given the country’s economic straits following a months-long movement-control order and subsequent smaller conditional movement restrictions. With unemployment on the rise and smaller businesses struggling or shutting down – as well as political instability – the 2021 budget is a key bill for Muhyiddin’s administration, which came to power via a political coup in March.
However, Muhyiddin’s nationalist party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), is grappling with strained relations with the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) as well as the strongest opposition in Malaysian history.
According to political scientist Wong Chin Huat of Sunway University, Muhyiddin now had to “act professionally” and reach out to the opposition.
“A confidence-and-supply agreement with the opposition – which can be reached at any point before the five-week meeting ends – will prevent him from either losing the budget outright at second or third reading or suffering humiliating defeat if the government resists amendment by opposition MPs,” he said, adding that the opposition’s strong numbers meant that the budget was unlikely to be passed without a single amendment.
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He pointed to the allocation for individual ministries such as the International Trade and Industry Ministry.
“This will likely be amended by a motion jointly supported by the opposition and some government backbenchers, because Azmin Ali is not only unpopular with the public, but also has many enemies and few friends in both government and opposition benches,” Wong said.
Azmin was a key figure in the February political coup that saw the Pakatan Harapan coalition cannibalise itself and lose power.
Meanwhile, sociopolitical analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi of University Malaya termed the budget on the whole as “too optimistic”.
“Perikatan Nasional will be seen as too optimistic, not paying attention to the reality of the deteriorating world economic situation,” he said. “Measures or inaction such as not extending the moratorium or the EPF withdrawal may just cause frustration for the working class, who have to struggle with various problems such as salary cuts, late salaries, lay-offs and just the daily cost of living in uncertain economic conditions.”
