KUALA LUMPUR – Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz is confident that the effort poured into preparing Budget 2023 will not go to waste amid speculation that Parliament will be dissolved soon for the 15th general election.
A new government would then need to table its version of the federal budget if an early election is held, he told a press conference after tabling the spending plan in Parliament today.
“If you look at the (budget), there is an economic forecast, there is also a projected expenditure, and we also talked about the plan for next year.
“So there is no basis for what you said just now,” said Tengku Zafrul, in reference to a question whether the preparation of the budget would be wasted if Parliament is dissolved without passing the spending plan.
“Of course not. If you look at the budget, it focuses on what the future direction of the country would be.
“There is also an economic forecast or an economic report that talks about what we are today and where we are going to be in terms of our GDP,” he said.
However, Tengku Zafrul said that such a situation had happened before in 1999 under a Barisan Nasional government when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister.
Dr Mahathir’s BN government had tabled the federal budget on October 29 that year and then dissolved Parliament, which was followed by polling on November 29.
At the time, Dr Mahathir was facing a split Malay electorate following his move to sack Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister and from ruling party Umno.
Dr Mahathir had called for a quick election, with the campaign period lasting only nine days.
Upon securing victory with a two-thirds majority, the BN government’s then finance minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin, then re-tabled the federal budget for the year 2000 on February 29, 2000.
The present government, led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, is also under pressure to hold early polls, mainly from his own party, Umno. There was speculation that he would dissolve Parliament today following his royal audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong yesterday.
Earlier today, Tengku Zafrul unveiled a RM372.3 billion budget for next year, the biggest so far in Malaysian history. – The Vibes, October 7, 2022
