Stepping forward: Fadillah delivering a speech at the Pusa Regatta launching ceremony in Sarawak. — Bernama
SHAH ALAM: Negotiations between the unity government and Perikatan Nasional can still continue despite the Opposition’s rejection of the draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) for constituency allocations, say Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Ahmad Zahid said it is up to Perikatan whether to accept or reject the unity government’s MOU.
“It is up to them whether to accept or reject (the MOU). It depends on their leaders and their MPs,” the Deputy Prime Minister told reporters at the sidelines of the MIC annual general meeting here yesterday.
Ahmad Zahid said there will likely be further negotiations between the ruling government and Perikatan on the terms of the MOU.
On Sunday, Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said Perikatan had unanimously declined the MOU regarding allocations for its MPs and identified four key reasons for its rejection.
He listed the four reasons as the MOU being unconstitutional, contradictory to cultural, moral and religious principles, an abuse of power and a curtailing of democratic freedoms.
At a separate event, Fadillah, who is Deputy Prime Minister, said he will bring up Perikatan’s rejection of the MOU to the consultative committee of the unity government for further deliberation.
“We will discuss the way forward. We will also discuss if this is the Opposition’s final decision,” he said in Kuching.
Fadillah said the unity government respects Perikatan’s views when it rejected the draft MOU.
However, he said he was expecting a counter-proposal from Perikatan rather than a complete rejection, as the MOU offered to them was still a draft.
“I respect their views. As stated previously, the MOU is a draft.
“When the draft MOU was proposed to them, I was expecting their feedback and their counter proposals,” he said, adding that he will wait for an official response from Perikatan.
“They stated that they do not agree to the conditions set out in the draft. We have yet to know whether they are saying that they are not open to discussions anymore.
“I have yet to receive any formal reply in writing from the Opposition on the draft MOU.
“I will only bring up the rejection for discussion with the unity government once I receive a formal reply in writing from the Opposition,” said Fadillah.
The MOU draft from the Federal Government to the Opposition MPs purportedly contained seven conditions for the latter to abide by, including supporting the government of the day until the end of the 15th Parliament term, to enable them to receive allocations.
The Opposition had claimed on Sept 2 that no allocation amount was stated in the draft of the MOU.Between 2018 and 2020, under the Pakatan Harapan administration during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure, government lawmakers could apply up to RM3.5mil annually while Opposition lawmakers were capped at RM100,000.
