‘Equal allocations for all MPs,’ Takiyuddin reminds PH of GE15 manifesto

PETALING JAYA: Election promises made in the 15th General Election (GE15) should be honoured and equal allocations should be given to all MPs regardless of their political affiliation, said Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan.

The Perikatan Nasional chief whip pointed out that in Pakatan Harapan’s election manifesto dubbed “Tawaran Harapan” (Harapan’s offer), it pledged to provide equal constituency development funds to all MPs across the political divide.

“Perikatan is urging the Prime Minister to guarantee that development allocations will be given to all MPs across the country, as implemented by the previous government,” said Takiyuddin.

He said that in the previous administration, constituency development allocations were channeled to MPs’ service centres through the Implementation and Coordination Unit (ICU) of the Prime Minister’s Department.

Meanwhile, Takiyuddin said that constituency allocations that benefited the public shouldn’t be reduced at all.

“Though the government is said to be taking austerity measures in line with the country’s economic position, development allocations channeled through MPs that directly benefit the public shouldn’t be touched nor reduced,” said Takiyuddin.

Takiyuddin is hoping that the Federal Government-led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will prioritise Malaysians first.

Similar calls were made by Perikatan’s Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who said equal allocations should be given to all MPs.

Last month, Shahidan claimed that Perikatan MPs in Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu did not receive any allocation for their constituencies from Putrajaya.

On Friday (Feb 3), Anwar confirmed the reduction in constituency allocations for government backbencher MPs to RM1.3mil.

During former premier Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration, Peninsular Malaysia MPs from the Opposition who signed the MOU with the government received RM3.5mil in outright grants and RM300,000 for service centre operations.

In the same period, MPs in Sabah and Sarawak who also signed the MOU received RM4mil in outright grants and RM300,000 to maintain service centres.