CHAOS erupted in the Dewan Rakyat when it was revealed that the government is considering rewarding Datuk Seri Najib Razak with land and a home worth RM100mil.

       The incident was sparked when former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stood up when Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz was wrapping up his ministerial replies on the Budget 2022 to ask if the RM100mil “gift” to Najib was part of the budget.

       “All government expenditure under the budget must be tabled in Parliament. But there is an item which is not included, which has become the talk of many.

       “It is related to a gift to a particular individual who is the former prime minister, YB Pekan. He will be gifted land and a home worth RM100mil, supposedly for his contributions to the nation,” said Dr Mahathir.

       “This was not mentioned in the budget and we want to know what his contributions were because as far we know, he is a convict who has been sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined over RM200mil.

       “Is this the contribution which the government wants to reward?”

       Dr Mahathir said it was made known to him that the RM60mil was for the purchase of a piece of land, and RM40mil was to construct a home for Najib.

       Tengku Zafrul acknowledged that there was an application submitted to the Cabinet for the RM100mil.

       “It was not included in the budget as the application was made after the budget was tabled. The matter is under discussion; a final decision has yet to be made,” he said.

       When pressed for details of the RM100mil, Tengku Zafrul said the question should be directed to the Prime Minister’s Department, which is the department in charge of allowances and privileges accorded to former prime ministers.

       Several other Opposition MPs also stood up to question Tengku Zafrul further, including Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman (Warisan-Sepanggar) who asked where the allocation would come from if it was not included in the budget.

       Tengku Zafrul said a separate Bill would have to be tabled if there were additional expenditures that were not included under the present budget.

       Several Opposition MPs continued to badger Tengku Zafrul, who wanted to go on with his ministerial replies.

       Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun ordered MPs to stop interjecting and to sit down, otherwise he would have to show them the door.

       “Sit down, I am counting... one, two,” he said amid the continued ruckus from the floor, before ordering RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) to leave the House for 10 minutes.