No draft agreement on allocations as claimed by Perikatan, says Fadillah

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no draft agreement related to the allocation demands of opposition lawmakers with the Madani Government, as claimed by leaders of the Perikatan Nasiona, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the unity government chief whip, said no draft document was submitted or received during his meeting with Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin in Parliament on March 19.

"I emphasise once again that during my meeting with opposition representatives last week, no documents were provided by the Madani government or the Opposition.

"It was merely a session to hear their requests and offers, and there was no discussion regarding any 'agreement'," he said in a statement on Sunday (March 24).

Fadillah also urged Hulu Terengganu MP from Bersatu, Datuk Rosol Wahid, who mentioned the draft, to request it from the Opposition leader.

"Let's see if that draft (agreement) exists or not,” he said.

On March 22, Hamzah, who is also Larut MP, was reported to have said that the Opposition had received a draft document detailing matters related to negotiations on allocations for Opposition MPs.

Meanwhile, Unity Government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil also denied Hamzah's statement regarding the matter and confirmed that Fadillah's meeting with the opposition leader was only to hear their views.

The Communications Minister said the Madani government had discussed the meeting and will take follow-up actions, including discussions at the Madani government leadership council meeting to be held later.

"For now, we haven't obtained anything substantive from the Opposition, so we need to go back to the drawing board.

"If Opposition MPs feel that these discussions are somewhat delayed, don't blame the government, they should ask the Opposition leader why it’s delayed," he told reporters after launching the Ramadan CSR Initiative and Lembah Pantai Iftar Perdana event with Foodpanda Malaysia and collaboration partners at the IWK Eco Park @ Pantai Dalam here on Sunday.- Bernama