Budget protest: House suspended for 2 hours

The Dewan Rakyat proceedings was suspended for two hours following protests from the opposition bench over the additional figures tabled by Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak to Budget 2009.

Deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar suspended proceedings until 2.30pm after the opposition refused to allow the Bill to reach the committee stage.

Several Pakatan Rakyat MPs led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim (PKR-Permatang Pauh) had earlier told Wan Junaidi that under Section 66 (15) of the Standing Orders, the House must be informed two days before the tabling of any amendments made to a Supply Bill.

The motion must also be distributed to all MPs, they added.

Speaking at a press conference later, the opposition leader and DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) commended the decision by Wan Junaidi to adjourn the proceedings.

"It is a commendable and wise decision by the speaker to adjourn proceedings as there are many issues that require solving before it can be debated at the committee stage," said Anwar.

Yesterday, Pakatan MPs staged a walkout when Najib refused to allow the opposition to seek clarification over the RM7 billion stimulus package mentioned in his Budget 2009 ministerial winding up speech.

The MPs also saw red when Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia backed the minister on this matter.

The absence of Pakatan MPs saw the Budget 2009 Supply Bill passed by the Dewan Rakyat unopposed.Which bill was passed?

Commenting on this, Anwar asked: "But which bill was passed yesterday? Is it the budget presented by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi or the budget with additional figures read out by Najib?"

Both Anwar and Lim reiterated that making fiscal amendments to the original budget presented by Abdullah was tantamount to a new budget and members of the Dewan must first be informed of the amendments before it is tabled for reading.

"When we talk about the national budget, every sen must be discussed and get the approval of the Dewan before it can be passed," said Lim.

Anwar described what happened yesterday as a 'dangerous sign' for the country as Najib, who will be taking over the premiership next March, had shown signs of being 'incompetent'.

"What he did, by clearly violating the rules of parliament, is a very dangerous sign for the country. This is a clear indication of the sheer incompetence of our deputy prime minister," he said.

Meanwhile, Kamarudin Jaffar (PAS-Tumpat) who was also present at the press conference described what Najib had done as a 'bad omen' for the country’s future.

"He has already acted as a prime minister when he is only the deputy prime minister," he said.