KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) has listed 12 proposed amendments to be included in the 2021 Budget.
Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (Independent-Jerlun) told the Dewan Rakyat today that the proposed amendments were the conditions set by Pejuang members of parliament in exchange for their support for the 2021 Budget.
Among the proposals were for the number of cabinet members to be reduced and for salaries of these remaining ministers to be reduced by at least 30 per cent.
"Reduce the number of Cabinet ministers and cut ministers' and deputy ministers' salary up to at least 30 per cent, or do what Italy did where they dropped all deputy ministers temporarily during the Covid-19 period.
"We are determined to reject the Budget if there are no changes to the conditions we put forward.
"These 12 conditions are given so that the government does not waste money in the current situation," he said when debating the 2021 Budget Bill in the Lower House today.
Aside from that, Mukhriz said Pejuang also wants the government to postpone construction projects involving ministry building premises and for the allocation to the Prime Minister's Department to be reduced.
According to the 2021 Budget, the Prime Minister's Department will receive additional funds from RM7.9 billion in the previous year to RM11 billion this year.
"We also call on the government to include the postponement of all mega projects and focus on small ones.
"Increase the budget of the Health Ministry for non-communicable diseases, because even though we are struggling with Covid-19, it does not mean that other diseases have just disappeared," he said.