Malaysia PM Muhyiddin urges all MPs to create aside political differences to support budget 2021
01 November, 2020
Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Saturday (Oct 31) called on all Members of Parliament to create aside their political dissimilarities to make sure that budget 2021 is passed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Why don't we prioritise the people's interest most importantly other interests," said Mr Muhyiddin in a televised address.
"A sort of understanding could be framed amongst MPs to make sure budget 2021 is passed with both government and opposition MP support."
This is Mr Muhyiddin’s first live broadcast to the country because the king rejected his proposal on Oct 25 to declare a crisis in Malaysia, in light of rising COVID-19 cases and political instability.
Parliament is set to reconvene on Monday and Mr Muhyiddin's first budget is due to be presented on Nov 6.
The king had urged MPs to give "solid support" to the cover the sake of the people’s wellbeing and the country’s monetary recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Muhyiddin stated that the budget would set out various allocations to government agencies, aid for the people and incentives for the organization, professional and business sectors.
In his address on Saturday, Mr Muhyiddin also raised the problem of the upcoming Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election in Sabah, plus the Sarawak state elections.
"In the special National Security Council meeting I chaired today (Saturday), the Election Commission secretary informed me many election personnel explained their worry of serving in Batu Sapi by-election, for fear of being infected," he said.
Mr Muhyiddin added that it's difficult to restrict the movement of voters, even those in red zones, from going to a green zone where they were registered to vote, as it is their constitutional right.
"Only when emergency is declared under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution in Batu Sapi and Sarawak, then we are able to postpone both of these elections until COVID-19 ends," he said.
"If elections can't be postponed for any reason, my plea to the residents in Batu Sapi and Sarawak is usually to be careful. Manage yourselves and heed the typical operating procedures with discipline when elections are held," he said.
Malaysia has registered 30,889 COVID-19 cases up to now, with 799 new cases and three deaths reported on Friday.
Nearly all cases have been in Sabah, with 14,053 cases and 114 deaths.
Meanwhile, Johor Bahru district has been declared a COVID-19 red zone, a location with 41 cases or even more in a span of two weeks.
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