PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional has asked for a RM3.5 million annual allocation for its MPs during its ongoing negotiations with the government, says Hulu Terengganu MP Rosol Wahid.
On Thursday, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin told the Dewan Rakyat that PN had received a draft document from deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof outlining the main points of the annual development allocation the government has proposed.
Rosol told Sinar Harian the terms of the draft agreement on the matter also include an allocation of RM300,000 to manage the MPs’ service centres.
Rosol said this is key as the MPs will spend the annual RM3.5 million allocation on the welfare, infrastructure, and educational needs of their constituents.
“An MP may apply for up to RM3.5 million a year, which is the same disbursed by the Pakatan Harapan government in 2019,” he said.
“The amount consists of RM2 million for development purposes and RM1.5 million for grants, contributions, and constituency management expenses.
“This allocation is important to help the poor and single mothers, and to fund projects such as road construction and so on.
“In my opinion, the government should provide an equal allocation to the opposition according to their manifesto in the past general election. That’s their promise,” he said.
During the PH administration from 2018 to 2020, government MPs could apply for up to RM3.5 million annually, while the allocation for opposition MPs was capped at RM100,000. This disparity continued under PN.
It was only during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s tenure as the prime minister that opposition MPs were given equal allocations following a memorandum of understanding signed between his coalition and PH, which was then in the opposition.
Previously, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had agreed to allocate an equal amount of funds to opposition MPs and government MPs. - FMT
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