The federal government and other state governments should emulate the Penang government's move to provide allocation for the state's opposition, said two DAP parliamentarians.
While lauding the Penang government's decision as a move towards forming a mature democracy, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim (left) and Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari highlighted that opposition parliamentarians are discriminated against when it comes to constituency allocations.
They said that this year, RM185.5 million has been allocated amongst all 222 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia, or about RM835,000 per constituency.
"Unfortunately, opposition MPs are not given the power to administer or approve any project to use that allocation.
"This is clearly discriminatory against opposition MPs and an affront to the principles of democracy. It can also be seen as an insult to the people in opposition constituencies," they said in a joint statement today.
They stressed that they needed the annual allocation to perform their duties as legitimate representatives of the people.
The ruling BN coalition currently controls 133 seats in parliament, while Pakatan Rakyat has 89.
The duo were responding to the Penang state government's decision to allocate RM40,000 per year for each of the ten Umno assemblypersons in the state for small-scale development projects.
"We hope the prime minister will take this opportunity to act sensibly and set aside narrow politics for the sake of maturing the democratic process in the country," they said.
While lauding the Penang government's decision as a move towards forming a mature democracy, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim (left) and Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari highlighted that opposition parliamentarians are discriminated against when it comes to constituency allocations.They said that this year, RM185.5 million has been allocated amongst all 222 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia, or about RM835,000 per constituency.
"Unfortunately, opposition MPs are not given the power to administer or approve any project to use that allocation.
"This is clearly discriminatory against opposition MPs and an affront to the principles of democracy. It can also be seen as an insult to the people in opposition constituencies," they said in a joint statement today.
They stressed that they needed the annual allocation to perform their duties as legitimate representatives of the people.
The ruling BN coalition currently controls 133 seats in parliament, while Pakatan Rakyat has 89.
The duo were responding to the Penang state government's decision to allocate RM40,000 per year for each of the ten Umno assemblypersons in the state for small-scale development projects.
"We hope the prime minister will take this opportunity to act sensibly and set aside narrow politics for the sake of maturing the democratic process in the country," they said.
Penang gov't chided
Meanwhile, Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Abdul Rahman Dahlan, published a series of tweets last night chiding the Penang government's decision.
"Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng thumps his chest and says he is giving RM40,000 a year to Umno assemblypersons in Pulau Pinang,riuh sekampung (there's a lot of noise).
"When the prime minister helps to settle RM600 million of Penang's debts, he is just ‘steady'!" he said, while dismissing the allocation as a ‘stunt' and ‘crafty political cunningness'.
When Lim tweeted back to Abdul Rahman (right) expressing hope that BN would provide Pakatan elected representatives allocations as well, he replied, "It is an insult to give RM40k for the whole year and trumpet it as if DAP is suddenly a real democrat. That's my point."
"Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng thumps his chest and says he is giving RM40,000 a year to Umno assemblypersons in Pulau Pinang,riuh sekampung (there's a lot of noise)."When the prime minister helps to settle RM600 million of Penang's debts, he is just ‘steady'!" he said, while dismissing the allocation as a ‘stunt' and ‘crafty political cunningness'.
When Lim tweeted back to Abdul Rahman (right) expressing hope that BN would provide Pakatan elected representatives allocations as well, he replied, "It is an insult to give RM40k for the whole year and trumpet it as if DAP is suddenly a real democrat. That's my point."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.