Don't make Opposition MPs beg for allocations, says Pakatan rep

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MPs should not be made to beg for their allowances, says a government backbencher.

Fong Kui Lun (PH-Bukit Bintang) said there was a need to be considerate, and for the government to give equal allocations.

“When all MPs get allocations, it's the voters and residents who will benefit,” he said when debating Budget 2024 on Wednesday (Oct 25).

The DAP MP said that those from Pakatan Harapan struggled to serve their constituents when they did not have allocations while helming the Opposition bench.

“When residents requested aid, we had to reject it. As a Madani government. I don’t see anything wrong in extending allocations to Opposition MPs, subject to certain conditions so they can uplift the residents in Opposition constituencies,” he said.

He also cited how the federal government should emulate the Taiwanese government in providing equal allocations to all MPs.

When wrapping up debates on the 12th Malaysia Plan mid-term review in September, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the Opposition to hold proper discussions to seek allocations from the government instead of simply demanding it.

Anwar said he had assigned Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof to represent the government to resolve this issue.

On Oct 10, Fadillah said Perikatan Nasional MPs chosen to hold negotiations on the allocations had yet to do so.

Fadillah said he has yet to receive any official letter from the MPs involved to hold any meeting.

"The only one to have met me was Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muar MP), (those) from Perikatan not yet, no official letters from them and I am (still) waiting,” Fadillah said.