The country could shutdown if budget is disapproved

By Zaidi Isham Ismail
[email protected]

All eyes will be on Parliament this week on whether to approve or to disapprove Budget 2021.

Lawmakers are expected to convene on Thursday and decide on whether to pass or to block Budget 2021.

The importance of this budget for the rakyat cannot be emphasised enough.

Members of parliament, be it from the government or the opposition must see this RM322.5 billion allocation through.

The rakyat desperately need the cash aid and the politicians must refrain from politicking for now.

The Yang Berhormats must now set aside their political differences and priotise on the well being of the rakyat.

If this spending is not approved, it will derail all the planning laid out by the government.

But even worse, there is a possibility that the government machinery could shutdown if the budget is not approved.

The country's economic growth forecasted to rebound up to 7 percent next year will be thrown off tangent.

And disaster beckons for the country if the RM17 billion earmarked to combat COVID-19 is thrown down the drain.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Federal Constitution expert, Dr. Fathi Muhammad said the government cannot function if the budget is not approved.

"Government agencies and ministries will not get their allocation and even worse, 1.6 million civil servants will not get their salaries," said Fathi.

He said this also include the fronliners spanning from nurses to soldiers, policemen and other authorities.

Speaking to Bernama, Dr Fathi said the consequences will be dire because as it is, one a one to one ratio, there are more civil servants serving the rakyat.

For the record, a government shutdown happened in December 2018 when US President Donald Trump authorised the construction of the US-Mexico wall without approval from the US Congress. 

The 35-day shutdown saw 800,000 federal workers take forced leave with no pay.

Malaysia had in 1969 distributed the 1970 budget without approval from Parliament under the Ordinan Darurat No 3 Kuasa-Kuasa Perlu due to the racial riots.

In 1999, the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad went ahead with the budget despite not given the go ahead by Parliament.

He then called for a general election and the budget was only given the green light after the polls ended.

Every politician must compromise and put their vested interests aside for awhile.

The risk will be huge for the country if the budget does not go through.

Whichever way, Parliament is expected to be fiery this week with the politicians slugging it out.

This debacle surfaced when former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak set conditions on the government before Barisan Nasional can support the budget.

In a letter to the NST, LT of Seremban wrote : I am a teacher in a government secondary school in Seremban.

I read with trepidation on news that the 2021 Budget may not see a smooth passage in the Dewan Rakyat.

Like the over 1.7 million civil servants in Malaysia, this news is deeply worrying

For me personally, my economic "lifeline" now is the salary I draw as a teacher, which is not even much to begin with.

Leaving aside the politics of it, I just hope that the 2021 Budget is approved. We civil servants will suffer tremendously and unfairly if the budget is voted down.

Let's hope the politicians read this heartfelt letter and ponder as food for thought, for their every move would have repercussions on the rakyat.  -  DagangNews.com

The writer is former NST Business assistant editor