Loke lists opposition MPs' demand before signing CSA

 

DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke has revealed three things that the opposition lawmakers want from the government before both sides sign the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA).

"First, we want to strengthen the parliamentary system so that it can function better. For instance, the opposition MPs need to be appointed into the Select Committee.

"Second, we want the government to listen and consult us on matters related to budget and laws. We hope anything that the government wants to do, there's an active consultation (with the opposition).

"Third, for so long under the BN administration, opposition MPs were denied allocations.

"Each (opposition) constituent should get equal allocation as those under the government MPs. The money is not for us, but for the people," the Seremban MP said in an interview titled "National Consensus for Malaysia" that was broadcast on DAP's Facebook yesterday.

For the record, Loke had on Oct 29 raised the concept of CSA in a statement.

According to him, the agreement refers to an official agreement agreed upon by both the ruling party and opposition, without either of them forming an official coalition.

He had said that it is commonly practised in Commonwealth countries when a ruling party does not have majority seats or its position in Parliament is unstable.

Prior to that, Bersih 2.0 had similarly suggested a confidence-and-supply agreement.

Asked if the demand for the allocation was similar to receiving dedak (rewards) from the government, Loke denied this.

"It's an allocation for the constituency… This is not about dedak (rewards) or bribe. The money goes into the service centre's account, not ours.

"It is for the people," he said.

Not the time for political squabbling

Asked if supporting the agreement translated into the opposition accepting the Sheraton Move, Loke reiterated that now is not the time for political squabbling.

"No. We accept that as a history, which cannot be denied that there was a betrayal.

"But now is not the time for us to continue fighting. I think it should be solved during the (general) election. But now is also not the time to have an election. Even in a physical war, there's a ceasefire," he said.

Loke added that there were rumours that the government was ready for the agreement.

"We have yet to sit in an official meeting, but yes, there were rumours that the government was ready.

"There's also rumour that Umno had rejected the suggestion (to have the confidence and supply agreement)," he said.

Annuar Musa

Yesterday, BN secretary-general Annuar Musa said the CSA issue was not discussed in depth at the BN parliamentarians meeting.

“It was discussed generally to understand what a confidence and supply agreement is,” Annuar said.

The Perikatan Nasional government is seen as unstable as Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has only 113 MPs on his side.

Subsequently, Muhyiddin failed to get the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to declare a state of emergency under the pretext of Covid-19 pandemic.

The Agong, on the other hand, has warned all MPs against destabilising the government and advised them to support the Budget 2021. - Mkini