KUALA LUMPUR – The discordant and inharmonic make-up of the current federal administration has raised a vital question over who shall claim the rightful ownership of the budget that is set to be tabled this evening, the last before the general election.
This comes amid animosity between the component parties within the coalition government led by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, namely between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Leaders of the two coalitions have been at odds over recent months and failed to reach an agreement to form an alliance ahead of the general election, which will now force multi-cornered fights in virtually every parliamentary seat.
With the polls rumoured to be held by the end of the year, and today’s pre-election budget expected to announce various elections goodies, parties in the government will surely want to claim credit over the Supply Bill 2022, or at least parts of it.
Senior lawyer Datuk Seri Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, who is the founder of Rapera Movement, a group fostering compassionate citizens and promoting community activities, noted that “election budgets” are typically set out to win as many votes as possible for the ruling government.
However, he pointed out that with the internal squabbling, this year’s iteration of the Supply Bill will be different in that the government is not the one that is going for a re-election to remain in power, but rather the respective political parties.
“The current government is made up of a coalition of political parties who are going to compete against each other in the elections.
“So who is going to claim credit if the budget is good? Or who is going to be blamed if the budget is no good?” he told The Vibes.
On top of this unique situation, Jahaberdeen also noted that there is the likelihood that any new government that comes in later might not stick to the promises made in today's budget announcement.
“Hence, we are in an odd situation, where for the first time in Malaysian political history since independence, this budget cannot in fact be called an election budget.”
Commenting further, Jahaberdeen said while the prime minister (Ismail Sabri) and finance minister (Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz), who is in charge of preparing the budget, will likely claim most of the credit, it is also possible for parties like Bersatu and PAS to do the same.
This is considering the PN components also represent a major part of the current government.
“Both can claim it is their doing, if they want credit. Or both cannot claim it's theirs, as it's a coalition budget,” Jahaberdeen said.
Universiti Malaysia Pahang’s associate professor Datuk Wan Ahmad Fauzi Wan Husain is of the opinion that all parties in the cabinet should get collective credit, as the respective ministries would have presented their views to the Finance Ministry on the allocation needed to carry out their works.
However, he said the only remaining question is whether the Umno-led BN coalition will be able to return to federal power, as this would most likely see the budget tabled today maintain its current form.
A change in government, he noted, might see the new ruling party make amendments to the budget to suit its manifesto and policy plans.
“If Parliament is dissolved before the budget is passed, then the new government can make tweaks before retabling it when the Dewan reconvenes for its new term,” he said.
He pointed out that any bill that has been tabled but yet to be passed before Parliament is dissolved, must go through the whole process again, requiring it to be retabled.
“On the other hand, if the budget has been passed before Parliament is dissolved, and a new government is voted in, they can make changes to the expenditure by way of a supplementary budget.” – The Vibes, October 7, 2022
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