KUALA LUMPUR: Budget 2016 was passed at the policy stage after a bloc voting in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
Opposition MPs had called for a bloc voting, which ended up in 128 votes for the Budget to proceed to the next stage while 74 voted against.
The next is the committee and final stage of debates for the Budget to be approved.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohmad Hanadzlah was the last minister to wind up the debates after the Budget was tabled on Oct 23.
Majority of PAS MPs stood by their decision to remain neutral and refrained from voting down the Budget.
The party’s parliamentary whip Datuk Mahfuz Omar said he was among three PAS MPs who decided to vote against the Budget.
“There were 10 PAS MPs present. The other two who voted against were Pasir Puteh MP Dr Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad and Kubang Kerian MP Ahmad Baihaki,” he told reporters.
Earlier, responding to questions by Rafizi Ramli (PKR-Pandan) on whether the Government would raise the quantum of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from its present 6% to 10% in move to lower the national deficit to 0.6% by 2020, Ahmad Husni said no.
"We have not even considered nor discussed this issue," he said.
Rafizi said there were talks that the GST would be raised to achieve the national deficit target as oil prices were expected to drop.
However, Ahmad Husni said these were based on speculation as oil prices were determined by demand and supply including output productions set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Ahmad Husni also reminded Rafizi that the Government was not "living with tunnel vision."
"Our vision is farsighted, we discuss with the agencies, consultants, analysis and others.
"The Government has never considered or discussed raising the GST to reach the deficit target," he stressed.
On the issue of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)'s power unit, Ahmad Husni assured lawmakers that the sovereignty of the nation would not be compromised.
This came after Opposition lawmakers expressed concerns over the sale of Edra Global Energy Bhd to foreign consortiums, which some said would hold the country at ransom for its energy needs.
Some also said Tenaga Nasional Berhad would lose its influence in the next five to ten years.
To this, Ahmad Husni said that opening up IPP tenders to others was not unique to Malaysia as even countries like Singapore, Thailand and Bangladesh had done so
Opposition MPs had called for a bloc voting, which ended up in 128 votes for the Budget to proceed to the next stage while 74 voted against.
The next is the committee and final stage of debates for the Budget to be approved.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohmad Hanadzlah was the last minister to wind up the debates after the Budget was tabled on Oct 23.
The party’s parliamentary whip Datuk Mahfuz Omar said he was among three PAS MPs who decided to vote against the Budget.
“There were 10 PAS MPs present. The other two who voted against were Pasir Puteh MP Dr Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad and Kubang Kerian MP Ahmad Baihaki,” he told reporters.
Earlier, responding to questions by Rafizi Ramli (PKR-Pandan) on whether the Government would raise the quantum of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from its present 6% to 10% in move to lower the national deficit to 0.6% by 2020, Ahmad Husni said no.
"We have not even considered nor discussed this issue," he said.
Rafizi said there were talks that the GST would be raised to achieve the national deficit target as oil prices were expected to drop.
However, Ahmad Husni said these were based on speculation as oil prices were determined by demand and supply including output productions set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Ahmad Husni also reminded Rafizi that the Government was not "living with tunnel vision."
"Our vision is farsighted, we discuss with the agencies, consultants, analysis and others.
"The Government has never considered or discussed raising the GST to reach the deficit target," he stressed.
On the issue of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)'s power unit, Ahmad Husni assured lawmakers that the sovereignty of the nation would not be compromised.
This came after Opposition lawmakers expressed concerns over the sale of Edra Global Energy Bhd to foreign consortiums, which some said would hold the country at ransom for its energy needs.
Some also said Tenaga Nasional Berhad would lose its influence in the next five to ten years.
To this, Ahmad Husni said that opening up IPP tenders to others was not unique to Malaysia as even countries like Singapore, Thailand and Bangladesh had done so
KUALA LUMPUR: Two ex-ministers who were sacked in July's Cabinet reshuffle were not present during the voting on Budget 2016 at the policy stage in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
They were former Rural and Regional Development minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and former Natural Resources and Environment minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.
Palanivel is Cameron Highlands MP while Shafie is Semporna MP.
Pagoh MP Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was dropped as deputy prime minister in the reshuffle, was however, present during the voting.
Opposition MPs had called for a bloc voting, which ended up with 128 votes for the Budget to proceed to the next stage and 74 votes against.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was also present in the Dewan Rakyat briefly to witness the Budget being voted for second reading.
The next is the committee and final stage of debates for the Budget to be approved.
Seven of the PAS MPs who were present abstained from voting on the Budget, in line with the party's pledge to remain neutral.
PAS parliamentary whip and Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar was among three MPs who voted down the Budget.
The other two were Kubang Kerian MP Ahmad Baihaki and Pasir Puteh MP Dr Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad.
Budget 2016 was tabled by Najib on Oct 23.
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