Opposition MPs stage walkout

Opposition parliamentarians walked out of the Dewan Rakyat today in protest against Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak's refusal to entertain questions during his winding-up of the Budget 2009 Bill debates.

Najib, who told the House that questions would be answered at the end of his speech, did not allow the numerous attempts for clarification.

Having started his speech at about 4:30pm, Najib was not able go very far into his speech before the discussion became - for more than half-an-hour - a noisy melee between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional MPs.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, Kamaruddin Jaffar (PAS-Tumpat) and Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor), among others, cited Standing Order 37(1)(b) to get Najib to allow interventions into his speech.

"Give us members of parliament a chance to debate", Anwar pleaded to Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

Pandikar, however, retorted by calling on the Permatang Pauh MP Anwar to "read together" the rule in question and note that it gave ministers in their speeches the prerogative to decide whether or not to allow the interventions.

At pains to impose order in the House, Pandikar issued countless ‘ultimatums' under Standing Order 42 to kick out those MPs who defied his instructions for order.

After Najib had read several pages into his 18-page speech, it seemed proceedings would return to normal.

However, the new figures which he quoted, in particular those pertaining to the fiscal deficit, growth forecast and government expenditures, led to increasingly louder protests by Pakatan MPs, who argued that the present winding-up speech indicated a completely different budget than that tabled by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was then also finance minister, on Sept 29.

Walkout by opposition MPs

While not the first to raise the point, Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) was seen as breaking the last straw on Pandikar's patience when the former insisted that this ‘new budget' violated Standing Order 66(1) pertaining to the tabling of budget bills.

"I order Batu to leave the Dewan for the duration of the speech," ordered Pandikar.

This led to a walkout by all opposition MPs, led by Anwar, Lim and Nasharuddin Mat Isa (PAS-Bachok).

At a press conference outside the chambers, an indignant Anwar said "this is the first time to hear such an answer from the minister of finance (to our requests for clarifications) who did not at all allow us to (get an) answer."

"It has no meaning for us to just listen, because this (speech) can be read.

"We waited for a solid one hour to seek the minister's permission, to allow us to respond and engage in a debate. This is a time where ministers reply to issues raised by members of parliament. He refused. He has obstinately refused.

"We have brought up issues and several points of order a number of times and appealed to the speaker. As you have seen, it was a sheer display of arrogance. Therefore, it leaves us no choice but to stage a walkout over the manner Najib has conducted his affairs.

"This is Parliament, not an Umno division meeting or a board meeting of a newspaper," he said.

On the same issue, Lim said the incident served as "the most unfortunate beginning of Najib's first day as prime minister-in-waiting".

"It goes against all principles of parliamentary democracy and conventions."

"We came to debate, not to hear a lecture on economics by the minister of finance," said Nasharuddin.

Misleading the House

The opposition leaders also argued that as the critical statistics and estimates cited by Najib were different from those contained in the budget tabled by Abdullah, and thus it warranted more time for debate before being voted on for second reading.

"In one hour's time, the members of parliament will raise their hands to vote on figures that have just been given - this is our problem.

"We are asked to approve a new, revised budget - including a new deficit, a new growth scenario, new inflation figures, and government income and expenditures - in a matter of minutes to be approved. It is treating the Parliament process and budget debate as a mockery.

"That is what we have been asking from the first day. If you're not going to call it an alternative budget, say it is a revised budget. But they were in a state of denial. Half an hour before the vote, they present a new budget. New budget, new figures. Everything is new," said Anwar.

Lim argued that this amounted to "misleading the House" as contained under Standing Order 36(12).

"Before the resumption of Parliament (on Oct 13), Pakatan leaders have been calling for Najib to present a revised budget so we can debate a revised budget and, at the end of the day, we can have a vote.

"He refused. He allowed the members of parliament from both sides of the House to debate a budget which he clearly was going to be abandon and he abandoned the original budget.

"He is now presenting revised figures, which makes it a revised budget (while) claiming this is not a revised budget. This is most dishonest," said Lim.

"What should have been done is a proper presentation of the amendment of the budget, and then ask for approval," he added.

Najib: They are irresponsible

At his own press conference held later, Najib described the opposition MPs as "irresponsible" and argued that if Pakatan MPs were really concerned about the people, they would have stayed for the winding-up speech.

"I have already promised them the space to ask questions after I finish delivering my winding-up speech but since they have decided to leave (what can I do)," he said.

The deputy prime minister added that the concerns raised by Anwar and other Pakatan MPs that the new figures mentioned were tantamount to a new budget was untrue.

"The new figures are only additional amount we allocated for the good of the country and the well-being of the people of this country," reasoned the deputy prime minister.

Najib also maintained the government's innocence pertaining to the Eurocopter scandal, citing the Public Accounts Committee's clearing the government of any irregularities as proof of its innocence.

"We thought of nothing but the good of our country and our military when we purchased the helicopters," he said.