It is absurd to use the Official Secrets Act (OSA) against people suspected of leaking information on the government's Budget 2003, Opposition Leader Abdul Hadi Awang said today.

Abdul Hadi, who is also PAS acting leader and Terengganu menteri besar, was responding to a remark by de facto Law minister Dr Rais Yatim yesterday that the OSA can be used against senior government officials who reveal classified information pertaining to the budget which will be tabled tomorrow.

Rais had reacted thus to Abdul Hadi's claim in two Malays dailies yesterday that information obtained from civil servants helped the Barisan Alternatif to draft a shadow budget.

Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin said the police can begin investigating into the claim based on the opposition leader's statement.

Political, economical crutches

Abdul Hadi, who is also MP for Marang, said Barisan Nasional leaders have responded "irrationally" when he was merely trying to show that the government was not "transparent and did not practise good governance".

"Their response also indicates that this country has progressed further into a police state because the government has a tendency to order police investigation," he said in a press statement distributed in Parliament today.

He said government leaders should behave courteously and rationally when competing for the rakyat's support in a democratic country, instead of "using crutches to beat and kill the democratic process".

In a tit-for-tat, Abdul Hadi called the government's budget "a political gimmick" to capture votes in the next general election due in 2004 or earlier.

"BN leaders may be able to take away the crutches from the Malays and the bumiputera but Umno leaders are still using these crutches to continue their dominance by sidelining justice and the democratic rights of its citizens," he said.

"Our (BA) budget defends the people and frees Malaysians from a conventional budget that has imprisoned them in a situation of increasing debts," he said.

The alternative budget, dubbed 3Ks Kemakmuran, Keadilan dan Kesejahteraan (prosperity, justice and well-being) was presented in detail at the Parliament meeting room by Universiti Malaya's Prof Dr KS Jomo on Tuesday.

Abdul Hadi is expected to present the BA budget in Parliament after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad delivers his budget speech tomorrow.