7-0 as rural development ministry budget passed, too

The budget for the rural development ministry today became the seventh allocation to be passed following the debate at the committee level.

The allocation of RM10.19 billion was also passed by voice vote, following the budget for the agriculture and food industries ministry passed earlier today.

Allocations for five other portfolios were also previously passed: the plantation industries and commodities ministry, the foreign ministry, the national unity ministry, the finance ministry and the Prime Minister’s Department.

The budgets for the Prime Minister’s Department and the finance and plantation ministries were passed by bloc vote while the two others were passed by voice vote.

The budget for 2021 – RM322.5 billion, the country’s largest ever – was passed at the policy stage on Nov 26 in what was seen as a crucial test of support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

It was passed by voice vote after the opposition failed to garner enough support to force a bloc vote.

Today’s vote for the rural development ministry budget saw relatively few opposition MPs in the Dewan Rakyat. Many had not re-entered the hall following the vote on the allocation for the agriculture and food industries ministry.