KUCHING: The failed attempt by the opposition to derail the approval of the 2010 Budget should be seen as an eye-opener by all Barisan Nasional MPs.Batang Sadong MP Nancy Shukri admitted that she was one of those MPs from BN who were absent when the budget was put to vote late at night on Dec 14.
Saying she was sorry for not being able to be present that day, Nancy stressed the fact that the passing of the budget was almost derailed should serve as a reminder to all BN MPs to be on guard at all times.
She also said that Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would be meeting all the MPs from BN to come up with a formula to avoid incidents such as that.
“We hope it doesn’t happen any more. The prime minister will be meeting us later and might come up with a formula. Let us wait and see what will happen next.
“This should be an eye opener for all the MPs and ministers. Parliament is of the utmost importance and they should do their best to be present,” she told reporters during the Pesta Satok’s Ratu Kebaya finals at Sarawak Tourism Complex on Saturday night.
According to Nancy, who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu assistant secretary-general, it was not normal for opposition members to stay on till late at night at the parliament sitting especially last Monday.
She said opposition leaders like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang stayed on till the very end of the sitting and this had raised some concern among the BN members.
“I felt sorry for not being able to attend the sitting because I had other commitments overseas. The Dewan Rakyat officers do inform me from time to time on the happenings during the sitting.
“When I heard what’s going on, I was surprised. It wasn’t normal for the opposition to stay on till late,” she said.
According to New Straits Times Dec 16 report, the government had anticipated that the opposition would attempt to prevent the approval of the 2010 Budget at the final voting that day.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said he had an instinct that the opposition was trying to prevent the approval of the budget, and his instinct was right after noticing the opposition leaders still lingering around.
The budget was finally passed by 66 to 63 votes at 11.15pm that day.
“By that time, they are usually not around. Many of the opposition members were also present. So we decided to round up our members and started calling them to be present,” he said as quoted by the daily.