MY proposed parliamentary speech if I were still the MP.
Dear honourable speaker,
First of all let me express my utmost gratitude to the government for its bold action and its willingness to propose a salary increase for our civil servants as reflected in the present budget.
Let me be very honest, I am not an economist, let alone an expert. I am ventilating my points here as a representative of people, at least people in my constituency.
It goes without saying that the salary raise would definitely be a boon for civil servants, especially those in the lower wage categories. I never have any doubt that it is the best policy. Hence I wish to congratulate the government.
Politically speaking, it would be political suicidal for any political party to object to wage increases for our civil servants in all sectors.
Having said that, that does not mean the government should be given a free ride to do what it pleases without being subjected to close scrutiny via parliamentary debates.
Lest we forget checks and balance is a sine qua non or an essential pillar of any parliamentary democracy.
Be that as it may, assuming there are members in this august House that opt to object to such a bold decision by the government, I would argue that such an objection per se should never be viewed let alone construed as if they are not sympathetic to the plights of our civil servants.
Mr Speaker, it is my honest belief that the Madani government has to be transparent or be seen to be duly transparent.
While the salary increase for civil servants is definitely a step in the right direction for every Tom, Dick and Harry in this country would definitely harbour a reasonable concern and trepidation by such a bold action by the government. After all, the latest policy would mean that the government has to, according to experts, fork out extra RM10 billion which is about 2.5% of government spending.
The lingering issue is from where would the government pay such new salaries? Yes, we are talking about the source of such RM10 billion here.
Experts argue that such a lot of money will have to be funded from a source other than borrowings for it to be sustainable.
While the salary raise would definitely be a boon for civil servants, especially those in the lower wage sections, it is hoped that the latest decision by the government would not be viewed to be purely a populist decision lacking economic and financial considerations.
When economic experts remind the government that due diligence has to be done to prevent economic issues in the country, my question to our finance minister would be “was such due diligence carried out and when was it carried out and what are the results of such due diligence?”
It would be reasonable and logical for all of us to assume that in executing this ambitious decision or policy new taxes might be introduced? Therefore, my question is “would the government be introducing new taxes in order to ensure that this new policy would be workable and sustainable?
If the government has no intention of introducing new taxes, we are also interested to know would the government be indulged in borrowing then?
While we are sympathetic to this new government which unfortunately needs to inherit huge and enormous debts as a result of mega corruption and abuse of power via the infamous 1MDB scandals so much so the peoples’ money which have been kept in various public funds such as in KWAP were happily embezzled by irresponsible politicians, I also believe any concerned Malaysian has every right to be utterly frustrated when the culprits of such a mega financial seemed to be hailed as a hero rather than a villain in our present system.
Ergo, we are really interested to know what messages would the government be sending to potential investors if those who were responsible for ruining our economy seem to have been given preferential treatment? – May 4, 2024
Mohamed Hanipa Maidin is a former deputy law minister and the above is his proposed parliamentary speech if he were still an MP. He is formerly Sepang MP