Bersih cries foul over allocations

The coalition wants a halt to the practice of distributing constitutency funds only to party representatives.

PETALING JAYA: Bersih 2.0 has branded the distribution of constituency funds to Barisan Nasional representatives on the ground of electibility as a crime against democracy.

A Chinese mainstream daily recently revealed that BN MPs were due to receive special allocations ranging from RM1 million to RM2.5 million for infrastructure enhancements, community activities and social welfare ahead of the next general election.

The report said allocations from Putrajaya were based on three categories – “white”, “grey” and “black” areas.

“White areas” referred to constituencies where BN was guaranteed a win and would receive up to RM2.5 million.

“Grey areas” were those where BN only won a state or parliamentary seat or retained the seat with a slim majority of votes. These would get RM1.2 million.

“Black areas” or opposition strongholds would not receive any allocations.

‘Shameless and corrupt act’

In a press statement, Bersih 2.0 stressed that all Malaysians should have fair access to constitutency funds and that treating these funds as an election tool was a “shameless and corrupt act”.

“It is an insult to the celebration of Merdeka as voters should not be effectively forced to vote for a particular party in order to gain access to this funding,” the coalition said.

“We call upon the federal and all state governments to respect democracy and stop the current practice of giving constituency development funds to only their party representatives.

“This practice is but the height of such feudal and kleptocratic mentality. (And) it underscores the need for legislation to prohibit and criminalise all misconduct that blurs the boundary between party and state or which abuses state resources for partisan purposes,” it added.

A BN backbencher meanwhile dismissed the allegations and clarified that the allocations were not election funds but part of the government’s budget for small projects in various constituencies.

Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan pointed out that MPs had been receiving allocations from the prime minister’s budget every year for projects that had an immediate benefit for the people.

“This money is not for us but for the people and we have been transparent about it,” he said.

“We make sure that every villager gets a piece of the action so to speak. There is nothing wrong with it. I would say take these allegations with a pinch of salt for they are extreme exaggerations by people who have nothing else better to do,” he added.