KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 ― Barisan Nasional (BN) said today it will support the Budget 2021 to be tabled by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government this week.
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said all 43 BN lawmakers have agreed to support the budget, which will indirectly gauge the support for under-fire Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“We (BN) made a decision to support the budget. We want to tell [PN] there is no doubt that the budget will be supported by us.
“So to the government and prime minister need not to doubt the support budget,” he told reporters at the lobby of Menara Dato’ Onn after a meeting wuth BN MPs here.
Tajuddin, however, said that BN will not succumb to the confidence-and-supply agreement (CSA) allegedly offered by the Opposition, claiming that the decision would “kill” BN.
“We don’t agree [with the CSA], why must we give it to them? It will kill us.
“When they were in power they don’t give it to us, why should we give them now?” said the Pasir Salak MP.
A CSA is an arrangement in a hung Parliament, in which an Opposition party agrees not to vote against a minority government in votes of confidence or budgetary matters, but reserves the right to oppose other legislation.
Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda)’s Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, PKR’s Maria Chin Abdullah and DAP’s Liew Chin Tong were among those who have mooted the idea of pushing for the CSA to be signed ahead of the Budget 2021 voting this session.
Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 even stated earlier that minority governments in the United Kingdom, Denmark to Canada ― the latest just on October 21 ― had passed their budgets with support from Opposition on a CSA basis.
The Agong had earlier last week advised all politicians to support Budget 2021 in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the funds crucial for medical supplies and frontliners.
On Saturday, Muhyiddin also urged all political parties to put aside their differences and come together to vote for the budget to fight the pandemic.
