KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — The Johor Opposition bloc lauded Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad as a model inclusive leader after they were accorded the same amount of additional allocation under Budget 2021 today.
The state Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders remarked that the Johor mentri besar acted differently from Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“More interestingly, the federal government led by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is also Gambir assemblyman did not act like the Johor government in matters concerning an inclusive democratic institution,” Aminolhuda Hassan, Jimmy Puah Wee Tse and Tan Hong Pin said in a joint statement this evening.
Aminolhuda is Johor Amanah chief, Puah is the state PKR deputy chairman and Tan is state DAP secretary.
Hasni tripled the state Budget 2021 allocation for all members of the Johor legislative assembly from RM50,000 to RM150,000, and announced an additional RM50,000 one-off allocation for Covid-19, bringing it to a total of RM200,000, Malaysiakini reported earlier.
“This is historic in Johor’s democracy. Johor has shown a good example of how the legislative assembly can play an effective role in prioritising public interest without partisanship,” Aminolhuda, Puah and Tan said.
The three PH leaders also disclosed that they had met Hasni prior to the Budget approval to discuss ways to strengthen democracy.
The trio said during the meeting with Hasni, they discussed equal allocation of funds to all elected state lawmakers, including those in the Opposition, and representation in the legislature’s select committees as well as in the action and district development committees, among other matters.
They added that today’s Budget announcement during Hasni’s wind-up speech in the state assembly was the mentri besar’s response to their earlier discussions and added that they were appreciative of the gesture.
They added that the MB also said there was no obstruction to including Opposition assemblymen in the select committees as well as the action and district development committees, but indicated that such matters were to be forwarded for further discussions.
However, they expressed regret that Pekan Nenas assemblyman Yeo Tung Siong’s proposal to exempt low-cost home owners from paying property tax failed in the state assembly, which they said was of public benefit.
Yeo’s suggestion was narrowly defeated 29-27 during bloc voting.
Hasni from Umno, had earlier today called PH a “strategic partner“ in his Budget 2021 wind-up speech.
The remarks and allocation announcement appeared an attempt to win support from his rivals and thwart another jab at his leadership of the state government from his Perikatan Nasional political partners that recently cost Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu the mentri besar post in Perak.
