Social budget or election budget?
Humayun KabirPublished: Nov 30, 2010 10:25 AM | Updated: Nov 30, 2010 12:55 PM
BN terms the deficit state budget 2011 of about RM29.91 million presented by Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir at the state assembly today as a social budget whereas Pakatan lawmakers term it as an election budget.
BN terms the deficit state budget 2011 of about RM29.91 million presented by Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir at the state assembly today as a social budget whereas Pakatan lawmakers term it as an election budget.
After the 2011 budget presentation, Zambry claimed that the budget is a social budget whereby all the races will benefit, and he rejected the opposition’s allegation of it being an election budget.
However, state Pakatan leader Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said, “He (Zambry) is throwing out a lot of goodies to influence the people to vote for BN in the general election.
“So it is a more of an election budget rather than a social budget and the 13th general election is imminent,” Nizar added.
Similar thoughts were echoed both by Tronoh assemblyperson V Sivakumar and Sitiawan assemblyperson Ngeh Koo Ham.
Ngeh said, “The way he is throwing public funds to vernacular schools, temples and other areas shows he is fishing for votes in the expected snap elections next year.”
‘Zambry wins both ways’
Ngeh’s argument is that Zambry wins both ways by throwing the public funds around, that he can either win back the state in the next elections or even if he loses the state elections, he wants to show Perakians that he is more generous than Pakatan.
“In the end, if Pakatan comes to power, we will have no reserve funds to run the state government,” lamented the state DAP leader.
However, Sungai assemblyperson A Sivanesan (right) finds the 2011 state budget as very disappointing as 50 % of the budget is allocated for the emoluments of the civil service.
“It is disappointing to note that only RM1 million is allocated for the 135 Tamil and 184 Chinese schools in the state.”
He said “Non-Islamic places of worship get an allocation of RM4.5 million whereas Islamic places of worship get an allocation of RM10 million for renovation and repair works.”
He said, “A mere RM1 million has been allocated for scholarships for needy Indian students and it must be ensured that this allocation goes to poor and needy students and not to well-off cronies of BN.”
After the 2011 budget presentation, Zambry claimed that the budget is a social budget whereby all the races will benefit, and he rejected the opposition’s allegation of it being an election budget.
However, state Pakatan leader Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said, “He (Zambry) is throwing out a lot of goodies to influence the people to vote for BN in the general election.“So it is a more of an election budget rather than a social budget and the 13th general election is imminent,” Nizar added.
Similar thoughts were echoed both by Tronoh assemblyperson V Sivakumar and Sitiawan assemblyperson Ngeh Koo Ham.
Ngeh said, “The way he is throwing public funds to vernacular schools, temples and other areas shows he is fishing for votes in the expected snap elections next year.”
‘Zambry wins both ways’
Ngeh’s argument is that Zambry wins both ways by throwing the public funds around, that he can either win back the state in the next elections or even if he loses the state elections, he wants to show Perakians that he is more generous than Pakatan.
“In the end, if Pakatan comes to power, we will have no reserve funds to run the state government,” lamented the state DAP leader.
However, Sungai assemblyperson A Sivanesan (right) finds the 2011 state budget as very disappointing as 50 % of the budget is allocated for the emoluments of the civil service.“It is disappointing to note that only RM1 million is allocated for the 135 Tamil and 184 Chinese schools in the state.”
He said “Non-Islamic places of worship get an allocation of RM4.5 million whereas Islamic places of worship get an allocation of RM10 million for renovation and repair works.”
He said, “A mere RM1 million has been allocated for scholarships for needy Indian students and it must be ensured that this allocation goes to poor and needy students and not to well-off cronies of BN.”
View Comments0