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KUALA LUMPUR – An opposition lawmaker today questioned Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun why former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (Pekan-Barisan Nasional) is given 90 minutes to debate Budget 2021.
Azhar said Najib is the government’s main debater and it is only fair he gets the same time allotment as opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Port Dickson-Pakatan Harapan) yesterday.
DAP’s RSN Rayer (Jelutong-PH) asked why Najib is given special treatment since everyone else is granted 15 minutes to debate the budget.
“Why is someone who has been convicted given 90 minutes to debate when his honourable Bagan (Lim Guan Eng) is only given 15 minutes to debate?” Rayer asked.
“This is because I had given the opposition chief his honourable Port Dickson (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) the same amount of time which is 90 minutes. His honourable Pekan is the government’s main debater,” Azhar said.
Azhar also granted Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Langkawi-Independent) a 30-minute slot to debate the budget seeing that he is the immediate former prime minister.
Later, Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya-PH) posted on Facebook that she and several opposition MPs walked out of the Dewan Rakyat when Najib started his Budget 2021 debate.
In her post, she said Najib has been convicted for corruption and yet heads the government bench, continuing to debate the budget. – The Vibes, November 10, 2020
