Disgraceful for Opposition to walk out on Budget: Najib

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has hit out at opposition lawmakers for walking out as he was delivering the budget speech for 2017, saying they were unprofessional and had disrespected the parliament.

“They have humiliated themselves in front of the country. I hope people can see how they are against the concept of democracy,” Mr Najib told reporters when he left the parliament on Friday (Oct 21).

“In advanced countries, they can have a different opinion but they don’t act the same way,” he said adding that the opposition’s actions had tarnished the image of the Malaysian parliament.

The Premier said respect should be given even though one may have differing views and ideology. “Leaders should have good manners and attitude so that they are respected by the people.”

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin also echoed Mr Najib’s sentiments and claimed the opposition had disrespected the budget itself by their actions.

“That was a little bit unfortunate. It wasn’t very professional. They should have stayed until the end. This is the tabling of the budget, they should have acted more professional and at least listen till the end,” the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) youth chief said.

He added that the budget speech only happens once a year, and if the opposition had disagreed with what was tabled, they could still debate it and not stage a walkout.

The opposition walked out of the presentation after Mr Najib made a remark about former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“Recently, there were allegations that the 2017 Budget is of no substance and the government has insufficient funds,” he said.

“In fact, an opposition leader stated that Malaysia will face a difficult economic situation this year. Ladies and Gentlemen, now, who is without substance? Where did the storm originate?” Mr Najib said, without directly mentioning his mentor turned critic.

At that juncture, Members of Parliament (MPs) immediately stood up and interrupted the budget speech.

The interruption by the opposition prompted Mr Najib and parliament speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia to ask the lawmakers to leave the house if they were not going to listen to the speech.

A majority of opposition lawmakers later walked out holding placards reading “who is MO1 (Malaysian Official 1)”, referring to a civil lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to recover more than US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) in assets embezzled from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Chua Tian Chang said in a tweet that “the opposition MPs walked out of Najib’s speech because we can’t stand the hypocrisy of a scandal-ridden kleptocrat”.

Mr Najib has been plagued by a corruption scandal for the past year involving 1MDB.

He has denied any wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal following reports that RM2.6 billion (S$864 million) had been deposited into his private accounts, as well as of financial irregularities in the state investment vehicle.

Opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the lawmakers had walked out in order to voice their dissatisfaction with the budget.

“The budget has to be realistic. It looks good with many handouts, but where is the money coming from?” she asked.

Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the budget tabled on Friday is flawed and the government is lacking funds to deliver what has been promised.

“This budget is unrealistic. Although on the exterior it looks nice, with the goodies and the boost of BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid), the root issues which are the shrinking funds and how the government plans to settle its debts and liabilities, were not addressed,” he told reporters.

Mr Muhyiddin, who is the president of new opposition party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PBBM), was sacked by Mr Najib last year during a Cabinet reshuffle.

PBBM was formed by Dr Mahathir and it will ally with opposition parties to take on Umno in the next general election. AGENCIES