Time to end the political gravy train

 

The long, drawn-out drama that is Bersatu trying to eject rebellious lawmakers from their respective seats is reaching a cusp with Kelantan speaker Amar Abdullah declaring the Nenggiri seat vacant, thus ending the tenure of Azizi Abu Naim.

Azizi, also the MP for Gua Musang, appears to be the first head to roll in this sorry saga, although he has sworn to challenge Amar’s decision in court.

Meanwhile, the fate of several others – Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan) – has yet to be decided, with Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul to announce his decision soon.

The lawmakers in the spotlight have been hounded out of the party because they pledged their “support” for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim after being lured with allocations equivalent to that of government MPs.

The protracted drama has lumbered on and on and on because Bersatu had to engineer an amendment to its constitution that would allow undesirables to be booted out, and, at the same time, force by-elections with the goal of reclaiming the vacated seats.

The move comes under the auspices of legislation that was supposed to put an end to party-hopping and the frequency with which lawmakers switch allegiances.

However, what we have here is not a simple case of jumping ship. This is not about political ideology. Anwar promised any MP declaring support for him, regardless of political affiliation, the financial allocation of a government MP.

Now we leave behind the day-to-day chicanery and conniving of party life to enter the murky world of money in politics. The allocation for government MPs starts at RM2 million a year for constituency development, with a further RM1.5 million for grants and donations.

What constitutes development, grants or donations has not been clearly defined, much less made public.

On top of which, government MPs can also claim RM300,000 for the upkeep of their service centres. Sabah and Sarawak MPs loyal to Putrajaya get an additional RM500,000 again. All in all, government MPs are entitled to an allocation of RM3.8 million a year, or RM4.3 million for MPs in Sabah and Sarawak.

By comparison, opposition MPs receive a paltry RM100,000. And this token gift has only recently been introduced. In years gone by, they received nothing at all.

Ka-ching! Now we begin to understand why these Bersatu lawmakers are accused of abandoning their principles in short order.

In these trying post-pandemic times, the hard-up rakyat is in dire need of extra coin and it doesn’t take a Nasa scientist to work out which side your bread should be buttered when you will receive at least 38 times more cash supporting one side than the other. Assuming that is, these MPs will spend every penny on their constituents.

If they do, then could it be construed as vote-buying? Who wouldn’t be swayed by an MP who can afford to give so generously to his or her people? A point highlighted in the Tanjung Piai by-election a few years back when voters specifically said they would vote for one party because it was more generous than its rival.

Such supposed generosity would also go a long way to helping secure your future as a career politician. Just make sure your constituents know that this money will all but dry up if you lose an election and life is so much easier going to the ballot box, isn’t it?

Of course, it isn’t a huge leap to deduce that a less than scrupulous MP may take advantage of the political gravy train and just pocket the allocation, at the expense of the rakyat. How many MPs run or are named directors of so-called foundations, charitable institutions or other NGOs that are not subject to public scrutiny?

Therefore, it would be fair to assume that with so much cash on offer to MPs, there would be parliamentary oversight because, after all, it is in the public interest to know how allocations are spent. Moreover, it would be interesting to find out exactly how constituencies – particularly those of long-serving MPs – have benefited from these allocations over the years, if at all.

Apparently, no such oversight exists.

It should be noted that in the days when Pakatan Harapan saw itself as the rebel alliance taking on the evil galactic Barisan Nasional empire, one of PH’s noble pledges was to end the horribly lop-sided disparity in MPs’ allocations when it came to power.

However, having taken over the galaxy, sorry administration, PH seems to have quietly placed this promise on a dusty shelf in a dark basement, next to other lofty goals such as reform, freedom of speech and repealing the Sedition Act.

Ironically, it was BN lawmakers who really started to make noise about allocations a few years ago. Thrust into the financially parched wilderness of opposition after more than 50 years of bathing in cash, it was so suddenly unfair that government lawmakers should have such full pockets, while BN folk had to scrimp by on kacang putih.

Today, however, it would appear that an agreement to bring parity is on the horizon, despite Anwar’s government dragging its heels. This will seem doubly ironic for the now ex-Bersatu MPs facing the possibility of losing their seats for claiming their share of the loot.

But if such an agreement is on the cards, then all that solves is an equal share for MPs, who are already paid a generous salary, not to mention an array of allowances. And still no oversight on spending.

Then, here’s a thought: rather than waste upwards of RM840 million a year of taxpayers’ money on our 222 MPs, why not cut this cancerous problem out altogether?

We could zero the allocations and free up the money, which could go directly into social welfare programmes for the people.

After all, they are supposed to be the beneficiaries of these funds, are they not? - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.