Bersatu MPs signed CSA for constituents’ sake, says youth leader

 Information chief Harris Idaham Rashid rejects Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s claim the MPs have lost their powers of checks and balances.

Harris Idaham Rashid said that despite Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s narrative, the CSA clearly states that Bersatu remains part of the opposition bloc in the Dewan Rakyat.

PETALING JAYA:

The Bersatu MPs who signed the confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with the government yesterday did so to secure equal constituency development allocations for their constituents, says a Bersatu Youth chief.

Information chief Harris Idaham Rashid said the allegation that the Bersatu MPs had “knelt” before the government, or lost their powers of checks and balances was “a baseless accusation that misrepresents the document”.

The CSA’s framework clearly specified that Bersatu remained part of the opposition bloc in the Dewan Rakyat, Harris said in response to Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, who described the CSA as a “weapon to shackle and muzzle the opposition”.

“The agreement does not constitute an executive power-sharing arrangement or participation in the Cabinet. Instead, it represents policy-based support, subject to strict conditions, in the interests of the people and government stability,” he said in a statement.

In a Facebook post this morning, Wan Fayhsal, the Wawasan information chief, claimed that the agreement’s terms were one-sided and intended to prevent opposition MPs from raising sensitive issues involving the federal government.

He said every MP who signed the CSA “now carries a certain burden”, and called on the public to judge “who the true fighters are and who are wolves in sheep’s clothing”.

Harris said, however, that the CSA was signed to break the deadlock in previous discussions between Perikatan Nasional and deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof over allocations.

“As the negotiations had failed, Bersatu MPs could not allow their constituents’ welfare to remain neglected,” he said, adding that signing the CSA was an exercise in “mature politics” aimed at breaking the deadlock.

“This principled move was not made for the sake of securing positions, but to ensure that constituency development allocations are distributed fairly, and to secure two major institutional reforms – limiting the prime minister’s tenure, and separating the roles of the attorney-general and public prosecutor.”

Harris said Bersatu would continue to “vigorously” defend its demand for a Bumiputera empowerment agenda in Parliament as part of the opposition bloc.

The six Bersatu MPs who signed the CSA were Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh), Radzi Jidin (Putrajaya), Ali Biju (Saratok), Suhaimi Abdullah (Langkawi), Nazri Abu Hassan (Merbok) and Azman Nasrudin (Padang Serai).

The deal was also signed by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and six former Bersatu MPs who were sacked by the party in 2024 for declaring support for the government.

Under the agreement, the opposition MPs will support Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government until the end of the parliamentary term, including the 2027 budget, in return for limits on the prime minister’s tenure, the separation of the attorney-general and public prosecutor’s roles before the current government’s term ends, and equal constituency development allocations. - FMT