Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz told FMT that the agreement offered by the opposition included a request for all constituencies to be granted equal funding.

“When Pakatan Harapan (PH) was in the government, they did not honour their manifesto promise to give equal funding to all constituencies. So why should we be gentlemen and be considerate towards them now?” he asked.

Nazri also said agreeing to the confidence and supply agreement would mean admitting that BN was part of a minority government, which, he added, the current government was not.

He said they did not want to give the perception that BN was forming a backdoor government with the opposition.

“If (the confidence and supply agreement) goes through, it means that the prime minister is suspicious of Umno when it shouldn’t be the case. Umno has always delivered in the Dewan Rakyat. We cannot work together when there is suspicion.”

Meanwhile, Umno Supreme Council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman reportedly said all of BN’s MPs had agreed to give their support for the annual budget, adding that there was “no doubt” of that.

A confidence and supply agreement is an arrangement in a hung Parliament where the opposition agrees not to vote against a minority government in confidence motions or budget matters, although reserving the right to oppose other legislation.

Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and DAP’s Liew Chin Tong were among those who had mooted the signing of such an agreement before the voting on the budget.

The annual budget is set to be tabled this Friday.