KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Opposition MP Rafizi Ramli said today that he will seek to introduce restrictions against the federal government tabling supplementary supply bills for funds that it has already used.
The PKR vice-president said the practice was a slight to the Dewan Rakyat as Putrajaya was only seeking retroactive approval instead of before it spends beyond the Budget.
“In principle, the practice of Datuk Seri Najib Razak presenting the Supplementary Supply Bill only after the additional funds have been spent must be stopped immediately.
“It is an insult to the Dewan Rakyat when the prime minister and finance minister sees the Dewan Rakyat merely as a rubber stamp,” he said during a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
He added that despite this being the practice for a “long time,” he plans to put an end to it either through a Private Member’s Bill or by tabling a motion to create a Standing Order disallowing the sequence.
Instead, Rafizi said there should be a “spending review” during each parliamentary sitting to go over the government’s expenditure to prevent it from spending funds before they have been approved.
“It’s a fairly normal process any board or corporate entity goes through. You don’t spend first and report it to the board later. At the board level, it is done on a quarterly basis,” he explained.
The Finance Ministry yesterday tabled the Supplementary Supply Bill yesterday requesting an additional RM3.3 billion in spending.
