“It appears that the MOU is seen as benefiting the government more than the opposition.

“It has failed to respect and honour the support given by the opposition. It has not mitigated the pernicious effects of racial and religious extremism,” he said in a statement today.

The Penang deputy chief minister said he had hoped that with the establishment of various committees and a good working relationship between the government and the opposition, the budget should have reflected the spirit and substance of the MoU.

He said the government had instead taken it for granted without factoring in the element of reciprocity.

“As far as the government is concerned, it is meant for the opposition to shore up uncritical support, without the corresponding reciprocal initiatives.

“It appears that even with the MoU around, the government will not change its racist and religious character.”

Ramasamy said it would not be wrong to say that the ethnic communities that have contributed to the development and well-being of the country are being treated as an appendage to the system.

“Token recognition in the form of contributions to the vernacular schools and some marginalised ethnic communities are hardly sufficient to address their grievances.

“The fundamental problem is not so much about the budget per se but the political and economic system that directs policies,” he said.

He said the budget was aimed to entrench the power of the incumbent and not to address the social and economic grievances of the people, regardless of their backgrounds.

Ramasamy said it was better at cosmetics than the earlier budgets, adding that slight financial increases “here and there” do not tell people much about the usefulness of the whole fiscal plan.