KUALA LUMPUR: Budget 2016 was passed at the policy stage after a bloc voting in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
Opposition MPs had called for a bloc voting, which ended up in 128 votes for the Budget to proceed to the next stage while 74 voted against.
The next is the committee and final stage of debates for the Budget to be approved.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah was the last minister to wind up the debates after the Budget was tabled on Oct 23.
Majority of PAS MPs stood by their decision to remain neutral and refrained from voting down the Budget.
The party’s parliamentary whip Datuk Mahfuz Omar said he was among three PAS MPs who decided to vote against the Budget.
“There were 10 PAS MPs present. The other two who voted against were Pasir Puteh MP Dr Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad and Kubang Kerian MP Ahmad Baihaki,” he told reporters.
Earlier, responding to questions by Rafizi Ramli (PKR-Pandan) on whether the Government would raise the quantum of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from its present 6% to 10% in move to lower the national deficit to 0.6% by 2020, Ahmad Husni said no.
"We have not even considered nor discussed this issue," he said.
Rafizi said there were talks that the GST would be raised to achieve the national deficit target as oil prices were expected to drop.
However, Ahmad Husni said these were based on speculation as oil prices were determined by demand and supply including output productions set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Ahmad Husni also reminded Rafizi that the Government was not "living with tunnel vision."
"Our vision is farsighted, we discuss with the agencies, consultants, analysis and others.
"The Government has never considered or discussed raising the GST to reach the deficit target," he stressed.
On the issue of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)'s power unit, Ahmad Husni assured lawmakers that the sovereignty of the nation would not be compromised.
This came after Opposition lawmakers expressed concerns over the sale of Edra Global Energy Bhd to foreign consortiums, which some said would hold the country at ransom for its energy needs.
Some also said Tenaga Nasional Berhad would lose its influence in the next five to ten years.
To this, Ahmad Husni said that opening up IPP tenders to others was not unique to Malaysia as even countries like Singapore, Thailand and Bangladesh had done so.
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