PRIME Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim denied the opposition’s allegation that their MPs were subject to conditions that they would get financial allocations for their constituencies if they supported the PM.
On the other hand, the Finance Minister said the discussion is more aimed at ensuring the stability of the government and also economic growth.
“There is no condition for the support of the PM as alleged by the opposition. We give a mandate to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and the committee.
“They are to hold discussions so that the government is stable and we focus on economic growth that guarantees peace, stability,” he stated on Friday at the Kajang Technology City Mosque.
Last year, Anwar rebuked claims by the opposition that they would only obtain allocations if they supported his administration.
He added this in response to Kota Bahru MP Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, who raised the issue during the Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat in November.
The Tambun MP then reiterated that he had told the opposition to negotiate for allocations and that the offer was still open.
‘I didn’t say you have to support or bootlick PM for allocation,’ he said in Parliament then.
Several opposition MPs then decided to show support for Anwar as PM while remaining opposition party members.
On Thursday (April 18), Fadillah was reported to have said that the Supreme Leadership Council of the Secretariat of the unity government agreed to consider channelling allocations to opposition representatives.
Fadillah claimed that a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) would be drawn up first and extended to the opposition as the next step in negotiations.
In March, Perikatan Nasional (PN) asked for a RM3.5 mil annual allocation for its MPs which was presented in the draft agreement with the federal government, a coalition lawmaker revealed.
Hulu Terengganu MP Datuk Rosol Wahid said the amount was the same offered to Pakatan Harapan (PH) when it was part of the opposition bloc under former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Rosol pointed out that the terms of the draft agreement also included an annual allocation of RM300,000 for the management of MPs’ service centres.
“An MP may apply for up to RM3.5 mil annually, which is the same disbursed by the PH government in 2019. The amount consists of RM2 mil for development purposes and RM1.5 mil for grants, contributions, and constituency management expenses,” Sinar Harian quoted him as saying.
