PUTRAJAYA: With the third meeting of Parliament set for next week, ministers have been told to be well prepared with answers to properly explain any issues.
Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also asked ministers to be ready for the tabling of several Bills and motions to be debated.
“The Prime Minister wants good preparation so that responses to questions raised in Parliament will be well articulated,” he told a press conference here yesterday following the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Parliament will be in session from Oct 14 to Dec 12. The highlight will be the Budget 2025 unveiling by Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, on Oct 18.
Fahmi, who is the Communications Minister, said the Cabinet would next meet on Budget Day before the announcement for ministers to be updated by the prime minister.
He said the Cabinet had not reached a decision on the removal of education subsidies for children from affluent families, adding that several aspects needed to be considered.
At the National Symposium to End Poverty last week, the Prime Minister had indicated that subsidies for the “ultra rich”, including in education, would be reviewed and that there would be no more free education in top schools for children of elites and the rich who could afford to pay.
Fahmi also said the Prime Minister had directed the Education and Health ministries to fine-tune the National Strategic Plan to Combat the Double Burden of Child Malnutrition before its launch, adding that the Cabinet received the latest report on the issue yesterday.
“The Prime Minister has asked for it to be re-looked before the national strategic plan is unveiled,” he said, adding it involved not just nutrition but also school sessions.
According to reports, as of last year there were 5.6 million school-going children in the country facing the double burden of malnutrition, which is defined as the co-existence of underweight children and overweight mothers within the same household.
