The former prime minister in his usual sarcasm said the budget would be an “excellent one” as billions of ringgit would be announced as allocations to ministries and government agencies.

“Actually, this is only a stage play (sandiwara). The allocations are mere empty promises as even now the government has no money,” Mahathir said at a ceramah in Shah Alam last night to commemorate the first anniversary of Parti Amanah Negara.

A video of last night’s event was uploaded to the Kelab Che Det Facebook page.

The 91-year-old, who is an arch critic of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his handling of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal as well as the alleged RM2.6 billion found in his private accounts, said public hospitals could not dispense medicines while teachers could not travel as there was no allocation for travelling expenses.

Mahathir, who once also doubled as finance minister, said this current situation came about due to insufficient tax collections.

“The government collects the Goods and Services Tax (GST) but it has become a burden to the people,” he said.

Mahathir said under Najib, national debt had risen to the tune of RM800 billion and that this burden would be shouldered by the next generation.

“Najib must be removed in the coming general election and for this to happen, all Opposition parties must be sincere and united to take on the Barisan Nasional,” he said.

On Saturday, Mahathir told a ceramah in Tunjang near Kota Bharu that the Opposition should go on one-to-one fights with BN and also use a common symbol and manifesto.