Heated debate at Pahang assembly sitting over Opposition allocation

KUANTAN: The issue of allocations for Opposition assemblymen was the topic of a heated debate in Pahang state assembly sitting at Wisma Sri Pahang here.

The issue of allocations was raised by nearly all Perikatan Nasional assemblymen who took part in the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address of the Regent of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Tuesday (May 9).

It started when Jengka assemblyman, Shahril Azman Abd Halim, during a debate claimed that the Kelantan and Terengganu state governments, which are administered by PAS, gave allocations to Opposition assemblymen, which should be emulated by the Pahang government.

However, state Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Biotechnology and Education Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abd Razak stood up to disagree with the statement and asked Shahril Azman to state the amount given to the Opposition in Kelantan.

Also interjecting was Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, who supported Mohd Shoffi's statement. However, it was shot down by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who said he had checked the matter with Kelantan Mentri Besar, Datuk Ahmad Yakob, who confirmed that the allocation was being provided.

Tuan Ibrahim said that the information he received was "for the year 2023 and it was received one minute ago".

Shahril Azman supported the matter and said that Tuan Ibrahim, as PAS deputy president, was always in contact with the state leadership under PAS.

However, Tuan Ibrahim also agreed that there was no provision given for Opposition representatives in states which were not administered by Barisan Nasional in the past.

"Yes, in the past, when I was in the Opposition in 1999 as the Jengka assemblyman, there was no allocation for us. However, we closed the old book and opened the new book. I think that era has passed and this is the era when we together build a better state of Pahang," he said.

After a few minutes, Wan Rosdy once again stood up and said that a check carried out by his officer with the Umno representative in Kelantan, Datuk Md Alwi Che Ahmad, who is the Kok Lanas assemblyman, found that there was no allocation given, despite a rumour otherwise.

"I received confirmation from the Pahang Finance Office, who had asked the Kelantan Finance Office. They confirmed that no allocation has been channelled to Opposition assemblymen in that state until today," he said. – Bernama