KUALA LUMPUR: Langkawi member of parliament Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and three other lawmakers from Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), who had stood up to oppose the 2021 Budget will not budge from opposing the fiscal plan.
"For me and some other Pejuang members, we will still hold to our stand of rejecting the Budget as was stated before.
"When me make a position, we will not budge as we abide by the trust and our duty entrusted to us as elected representatives," he said in a statement, amid growing calls for the opposition to explain why it failed to secure a chance to move for a bloc vote to defeat the passing of the 2021 Budget in Parliament today.
Dr Mahathir, however addressed the elephant in the room by conceding that those looking to quash the Budget this time around were defeated, as only 13 MPs stood up to do so as the bloc voting criteria required a minimum of 15.
"When this happens, it means that the government that was chosen by the people can be toppled and replaced by a backdoor government.
"Elections no longer hold meaning," said the former prime minister.
He said such a government in turn could be supported by opposition MPs without them feeling guilty of betraying promises to the people.
"This is what happened in the Dewan Rakyat today."
The 2021 Budget was passed at the policy stage today, after 12 days of heated debate.
Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun had presided over the session, and he put the RM322.5 billion Budget to a vote which was passed through a majority voice at about 3.30pm.
The opposition's had attempt to call for a bloc vote but it failed to gather the more than 15 MPs to stand up for the process to be allowed.