Five PKR MPs reminded Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that Malaysia and public funds do not belong to him, amid controversy over party MPs losing access to the MyKhas constituency allocation portal.
“We wish to remind the prime minister of one very basic point: Malaysia does not belong to him. The government is not his home. Public allocations are neither party funds nor the prime minister’s pocket money,” they said in a joint statement today.
The five lawmakers are Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail, Subang MP Wong Chen, Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung, Sungai Siput MP Kesavan Subramaniam and Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan.
Rodziah is the third government MP, after Wong and Lee, to lose access to MyKhas.
The group accused the government of sidelining elected representatives while allowing unelected coordinators to manage constituency funds.
“Since when does a proxy who was not elected by the people have a greater mandate than an MP elected through the ballot box?” they asked.
They also questioned the appointment of Anwar’s political secretary Azman Abidin as Ampang parliamentary coordinator despite Rodziah remaining the elected MP.
“If Anwar dislikes an MP, that is his right. However, he has no right to make the people victims of that political dislike.
“It is even more worrying when elected representatives are sidelined, while public funds are handed over to political proxies to be managed according to his preferences,” they said.
Government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil today denied allegations of double standards, saying the funds were special allocations under the prime minister’s discretion and intended for constituents rather than individual MPs.
He said losing MyKhas access did not mean allocations to the affected constituencies had been stopped.
Wong previously said his office lost access to MyKhas on May 20, while Lee reported losing access on May 29.
The Implementation Coordination Unit under the Prime Minister’s Department later said allocations for both constituencies would continue to be channelled directly.
Reform, justice, transparency
The five MPs, however, warned against using such allocations as a political tool.
“If an MP has committed wrongdoing, investigate them. If they have broken the law, take action in accordance with the law.
“If a party member has violated party procedures, bring the matter before the disciplinary board and take action according to party rules. But never use allocations meant for the people as a political weapon,” they said.
They demanded that Anwar explain the legal, regulatory or policy basis for restricting the three MPs’ MyKhas access, as well as Azman’s appointment as Ampang parliamentary coordinator.
Invoking Anwar’s decades-long advocacy of reform, justice and transparency, they said the same principles must apply to his government.
“Reform does not mean politicising allocations meant for the people and replacing representatives elected by the people with personally selected proxies.
“Democracy is also not merely about asking people to vote once every five years, only to disregard their choice when the elected representative is no longer favoured by those in power,” they said.
“We are not asking for special treatment. We are only demanding one very simple principle: Respect the people’s mandate,” they stressed.
Anwar, who is also the PKR president, previously defended the changes, saying government allocations need not be channelled through MPs and could instead go directly to constituents and local projects. - Mkini
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