The Day the Govt Almost Lost the Parliament

  This is the news of the day:

Speaker slams opposition in narrow Budget vote

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia today criticised the Pakatan Rakyat for taking advantage of missing Barisan Nasional lawmakers to try defeating the Budget 2010 last night.
Pandikar called it dishonourable to catch the government with ‘their pants down” during the third and final reading of the budget proposals before it goes to the Senate.
“The opposition should not have taken advantage of the situation when there wasn’t enough BN MPs,” he said when commenting on the narrow 66-63 approval for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s first Budget as prime minister.


1.  All is not well with the Parliament.

2.  The BN Govt has 137 MPs as opposed to 82 from the Opposition (3 are Independents).

3.  The Budget bill was almost rejected by this Parliament.  It was voted in favour only 66 to 63, and the first time around it was more precarious: 64-63.

4.  While the Opposition stood steadily at 63, presumably the other 19 were out for some reasons, the BN whose MPs should be well-entrenched within KL, could not muster more than 66, out of 132 which was exactly half.

5.  That the budget bill was in the third reading should have sent a clear signal to all MPs that a vote would be so imminent.

6.  It was more so significant for the BN MPs, since a whole lot was at stake for them.  Had the Budget not been passed, and that was so close to, man ..., it would have been a major embarrassment for the govt, and whole of BN.

7.  One wonders then:  With what have these MPs been preoccupied, so much so that they almost missed a big ship; had they missed it, they might as well have drowned themselves..

8.  To add salt to the wound (it is the nation who feels the wound ...), the Speaker then places the blame on the Opposition for the unfortunate moment.

9.  Since when has the role of the Opposition been elevated to that of the decider?

10.  The impression one gets is that the Parliament is where the Opposition has always been bashed and booed.

11.  In fact, an earlier episode saw the Opposition's motion being rejected by the Speaker.

12.  It then almost looked like it was the Opposition's budget that was (almost) rejected by the Parliament.

13.  Alas, if this was indeed but an indication, then we will see more rot to appear in the same house.