KUALA LUMPUR – It is unacceptable to allocate RM85.5 million for government propaganda arm Special Affairs Department (Jasa) in a time of crisis, said former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Najib (Pekan-BN), whose Barisan Nasional (BN) administration had previously overseen and approved funds for Jasa, said the hefty allocation under Budget 2021 will only draw ire from the people.
“In a non-crisis time, there is a need for a communications unit to ensure government policies are not misunderstood.
“But in a crisis, when funds are better used for the rakyat, an huge increase (for Jasa) compared with the BN era is hard for people to accept, and will only anger them,” he said when debating the Budget 2021 in Dewan Rakyat today.
Under Najib and BN, the government then had typically spent between RM20 million and RM30 million each year for Jasa.
However, the department was shut down after Pakatan Harapan came to power in 2018, with the new government seeing Jasa as a propaganda tool.
Najib today warned that maintaining the RM85.5 million in the budget would only negatively affect the Perikatan Nasional government, urging Putrajaya to listen to the people.
“I can accept if the allocation is used to purchase face masks or hand sanitisers, or to give to parents as a replacement of the free breakfast programme, considering schools are closed.
“But I can’t accept that RM85.5 million is proposed for Jasa. The rakyat’s voice is a sacred voice. Things that the rakyat are unhappy about must not be continued,” he said.
Today, Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-PH) threatened to not support the Budget 2021 if Jasa is revived. – The Vibes, November 10, 2020
