Direct talks for equal allocations will minimise PN’s rhetoric, say analysts

 

On Wednesday, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof said he is prepared to negotiate allocations with individual opposition MPs after Perikatan Nasional rejected a draft memorandum of understanding en bloc in September.

PETALING JAYA: 

The unity government’s willingness to negotiate with individual MPs the terms on which allocations will be provided to their constituencies signals Putrajaya’s desire to keep opposition attacks in check, say analysts.

Syaza Shukri of International Islamic University Malaysia said the government appears eager to conclude a deal even though talks with Perikatan Nasional have stalled.

“Otherwise, the opposition will continue to use this (the allocations issue) as ammunition against the government, giving PN an opportunity to call the government ‘oppressive’.

“This is also why the opposition had for no strong reason rejected en bloc the previous draft memorandum of understanding (MoU),” she told FMT.

In July, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim insisted that all terms for provision of allocations must be negotiated en bloc between his administration and the opposition coalition.

PN was presented on Aug 3 with a draft MoU setting out the government’s terms.

That draft was rejected by opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin the following month. At the time, Hamzah claimed that several of its terms would affect the special position of the Malays and Bumiputeras while others went against traditional, cultural and moral values.

On Wednesday, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof said he was open to conducting negotiations with opposition MPs on an individual basis.

However, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man reminded PN MPs the very next day that they were prohibited from negotiating individually for allocations.

Control

James Chin, of the University of Tasmania, said there was no particular need for the unity government to have an MoU with the opposition in place.

“It is strong enough to pass bills in the Dewan Rakyat on its own,” he said.

The government presently has the support of 153 of the 222 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, after six rogue Bersatu MPs declared their support for Anwar’s administration without losing their seats.

Chin suggested that the government may be seeking to exercise “control” over the opposition’s “racial and religious rhetoric” by dealing with their MPs individually.

Both Syaza and Chin said Bersatu MPs are unlikely to be deterred from negotiating in their own stead despite the party recently amending its constitution to provide for their sacking if they act against its interests.

Instead, PN MPs would be seen as having minds of their own if they choose to act independently, she said, which would weaken the opposition. - FMT