Budget 2023 to be tabled in February...

Budget 2023 to be tabled in February....

House approves interim funding...

The Dewan Rakyat has passed an RM163.7 billion mini budget to keep the wheels turning in Putrajaya, pending a full budget.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, told Parliament today that a new Budget 2023 will be tabled in February next year.

The mini budget was necessary to pay civil servant salaries and keep the government in operation as the previous Budget 2023 tabled by the Ismail Sabri Yaakob administration was not passed before Parliament was dissolved.

It consists of two components. First, to pay for emoluments and aid, the government is taking RM107.7 billion from the Consolidated Fund.This will also be used to fund aid programmes such as direct cash transfers to the public. The second component involves RM55.96 billion from the Development Fund, to fund development projects that are already ongoing. - mk

PM Anwar quoted Shakespeare’s Macbeth as he took opposition parliamentary chief Hamzah Zainudin to task for hurling unfounded accusations amounting to personal attacks against him on the first day of parliamentary sitting when confidence motion was debated. - melgoh

PN furious & chaos after all political appointees sacked - yet too coward to vote against PM Anwar...

Khazanah Nasional Berhad (KNB) has made changes to its list of the board of directors. The latest update on the website of the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia shows two figures have been removed – former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri as chairman and Azmin Ali as director. The quick removal came after newly crowned PM Anwar Ibrahim boldly terminates all political appointees.

Sabri, one of three vice presidents of UMNO, was a strong supporter of rival Bersatu president – Muhyiddin Yassin. Azmin, on the other hand, was the infamous traitor who led 11 PKR MPs to quit the party and caused the collapse of the democratically-elected Pakatan Harapan government after just 22 months. Both were part of backdoor government of Muhyiddin.

But Sabri and Azmin were not the only senior politicians who have lost their chairmanship and directorship. Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and PAS president Hadi Awang, as well as other Perikatan Nasional loyalists were stripped of their top jobs, resulting in losses of salaries, allowances and perks after failure to form a government after last month’s 15th General Election.

And this is one of the reasons 74 MPs of Opposition Perikatan Nasional went ballistic in the first sitting of the 15th Parliament today. Had Muhyiddin and Hadi accepted the royal decree to form a unity government with Pakatan Harapan, which won 82 parliamentary seats, all the 74 Bersatu and PAS MPs might have become ministers, deputy ministers, chairmen or directors.

Prime Minister Anwar’s blanket sacking of all political appointees also means powers to award projects to family members and cronies have been removed. While Wannabe Prime Minister Muhyiddin desperately wanted power to prevent corruption and money laundering investigations against him, other Perikatan Nasional leaders wanted power to enrich themselves.

Unable to move on, former backdoor PM Muhyiddin has been scraping the bottom of the barrel, trying to convince the people that Anwar Ibrahim had stolen his premiership. Even after Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Warisan and other parties have pledged support for Anwar, the Bersatu president still insists he had the support of 115 MPs.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - Parliament

Anwar, in order to prove that not only he is a legitimate prime minister, but also possessed the support of 148 MPs or two-thirds majority in the 222-seat Parliament, has courageously promised on the same day he was sworn in as the 10th Prime Minister to table a motion of confidence, which he did today. This has further infuriated Muhyiddin and his followers.

Exactly why was Muhyiddin so furious and mad at the idea of a vote of confidence in the Parliament? Should not he and Perikatan Nasional rejoice and celebrate as if they had beaten Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup? Clearly a vote of confidence would allow him to legitimately prove that he indeed has the support of 115 MPs, therefore PM Anwar must resign.

However, instead of celebrating, both Muhyiddin and Hadi have childishly called Anwar-led unity government illegal, despite the fact that it was the Agong (King) who had proposed the unity government before approved by all the nine Malay Rulers. It’s both treachery and treasonous to condemn the royal unity government as illegal because it means the Malay Monarch had violated the rule of law.

There’s another reason why the opposition sore losers did not actually want a vote of confidence to take place. It would expose how Perikatan Nasional Malay leaders had tried to cheat and scam the Malay Rulers with false claims that they had 115 MPs through the dubious statutory declarations (SD). If Anwar has at least 112 MPs, it means Muhyddin did not have 115 MPs.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back was when the leaders of five political coalitions and parties in the unity government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support Anwar administration on Friday (Dec 16). The MOU, among other things, stated that all parties should vote to support the PM in all matters related to confidence and supply, and matters that can affect the legitimacy of the government.

The MOU is quite similar to the one signed between Pakatan Harapan and Ismail Sabri administration in Sept 2021 after Muhyiddin was toppled by his own governing partner UMNO. Back then, the MOU was inked to ensure Pakatan’s support for Sabri’s fragile unelected government in exchange for certain reforms, including anti-hopping law, which is proven useful today in preventing Muhyiddin from stealing MPs again.

Unity Government MOU - Hajiji, Zahid, Anwar, Openg, Shafie

It certainly screams hypocrisy when Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional condemns Anwar’s MOU as illegal and unconstitutional, but kept quiet over Sabri’s MOU. Of course, the Opposition is screaming till foaming at the mouth now because they are not part of Anwar administration, but had gladly accepted any MOU when they were part of Sabri administration.

The primary reason they make a mountain out of a molehill in the latest MOU drama is the condition that says whoever does not support the prime minister will cease to be a member of the party and lose their position as an MP. A warlord of Perikatan Nasional has argued that it would lead to dictatorship. Well, if Anwar is a dictator, then it must be true that Muhyiddin is a communist.

When Muhyiddin became the country’s first backdoor prime minister by snatching power in February 2020, he quickly locked down the Parliament to prevent any vote of confidence because he did not have the minimum support of 112 MPs at all. Only a communist leader would rule with absolute power by declaring a State of Emergency and shutting down the Parliament.

Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan has only 82 MPs. Other leaders – Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Abang Johari Openg, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Hajiji Noor and Parti Warisan president Shafie Apdal – willingly signed the MOU without pressure. No one holds a gun to their head to sign the MOU.

In fact, it was GPS who said the coalition can still pull support for the unity government whenever they like. The fear of losing independence does not arise at all because the MOU is only meant to ensure a stable federal government. Barisan Nasional, GPS, GRS and Warisan are not part of Pakatan Harapan government. And if any of the coalitions leave en bloc, there’s absolutely nothing Anwar can do.

The burning question is – why was Perikatan Nasional so concerned and busybody about the internal affairs of the unity government? Who is Perikatan Nasional to say the MOU is illegal and unconstitutional when all the five political coalitions did not think there was anything wrong with the agreement? Obviously, the opposition was afraid that the unity government could last till the end of the 5-year term.

Muhyiddin Yassin and Hadi Awang - Racist Bigots

Racist bigot Muhyiddin and religious extremist Hadi should stop insulting people’s intelligence with fairytales that the MOU has forced MPs to support Anwar under duress. Are you saying all the 30 UMNO MPs, 23 GPS MPs, 6 GRS MPs and 3 Warisan MPs were so dumb that they had blindly signed an MOU against their will as if Anwar was the one-eyed man in the land of the blind?

The strangest – yet hilarious – part was when Perikatan Nasional sent his newest clown Shahidan Kassim to the Parliament today to spark a verbal war. Instead of rallying at least 115 MPs (whom Muhyiddin has repetitively claimed to support him) to defeat PM Anwar in the vote of confidence, the despicable Shahidan said there was no reason for Anwar to test his majority.

The opposition appeared to be in confusion, contradiction and chaos when the former UMNO warlord said – “Since Anwar has received the consent of the King, just let him be the prime minister. Why do we need to do this?” Did Shahidan realize that it was an admission that Anwar has the majority support, which means Muhyiddin has lied all along?

Shahidan Kassim – Former Perlis Menteri Besar (Chief Minister)

A shouting contest in the Parliament was deliberately started by Shahidan to delay the vote of confidence. By right, the opposition should not waste time in voting against Anwar Ibrahim. It was a lame and cheap tactic to prevent Perikatan Nasional from losing the vote of confidence, which would be a spectacular humiliation to Muhyiddin and his minions in the event Anwar gets the 148 votes.

As expected, PM Anwar easily wins the motion of confidence via a “voice vote” because the Opposition was too chicken to go for a voting process. Muhyiddin ran away while Hadi kept quiet and new opposition leader Hamzah Zainuddin hid in a corner, allowing Shahidan to distract everyone with his silly circus stunts. By cowardly refused to vote, they managed to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

The opposition knew from the beginning they would lose, but the sour grapes just wanted to reserve the right to twist and spin at a later stage that Anwar didn’t get the numbers. It would make their loyalists and supporters feel better and not demoralized. Crucially, it would allow Muhyiddin to save face after crying wolf over dubious claims that he had the numbers.

It doesn’t matter that the premier did not manage to prove he has the support of 148 MPs in the vote of confidence. The appointment of Johari Abdul as the new House Speaker with 147 votes (deputy economic affairs minister Hanifah Hajar was absent) is the clearest proof that Anwar has the support of at least 148 MPs. The entire world knows Anwar has the numbers. - FT