Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Finance Minister with Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani (right) during a review of Budget 2018 finalisation at the Finance Ministry, Putrajaya, October 26, 2017. — Bernama picMore
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 26 — For the first time in Malaysian history, the annual National Budget speech will commence at 3.30pm instead of the usual 4pm.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak explained that he decided to move away from this convention to address the possibility that his speech may extend into Muslim evening prayers, Maghrib, which will be observed at 6.58pm tomorrow.
“The Maghrib prayer hours are fixed and cannot be changed, but my speech timing can be changed as it is not enshrined in the (Federal) Constitution.
“There was a time when a former finance minister’s speech crossed over into Maghrib, so I want to avoid that,” he said during a special briefing for news editors at the Finance Ministry today.
Najib also visited the staff of the Finance Ministry this morning rather than in the evening as is the usual practice before the tabling of the federal spending plan.
He said this was another change he was making.
“Tonight, I want to spend time to internalise my speech, looking over every single word in the text. No one can disturb me tonight, not even my wife.
“I am hopeful the speech will not be too long and no more than two-and-a-half hours, so as to conserve everyone’s energy levels,” he said.
Najib will table the Budget for 2018 in Parliament tomorrow.
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