“There is nothing for the opposition. We are representatives of the people. In other countries, the opposition is given allocations.
“If they want to punish the opposition, the government should just do away with the opposition. We are not asking for pocket money but money for the people.”
The same sentiment was also expressed by Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.
“As a reformist Anwar Ibrahim, should be fair in this matter. Even in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto it said equal allocation for all MPs but there was nothing,” he said.
Earlier today, prime minister and finance minister Anwar Ibrahim tabled a revised Budget 2023, announcing an allocation of RM388.1 billion.
Of the amount, around RM289.1 billion or 74.5% will be allocated for operational expenditure, and RM99 billion for development expenditure.
In December, PAS demanded that the current government grant equal allocations to MPs across the political divide, saying it wanted a “symbiotic relationship” between the opposition and the government, similar to what was practised by the previous government.
The previous administration helmed by Ismail Sabri Yaakob had allocated equal funds for government and opposition MPs.
Opposition MPs who signed a memorandum of understanding with Ismail’s government received RM3.5 million in outright grants and RM300,000 for service centre operations.
MPs from East Malaysia who also signed the agreement received RM4 million in outright grants and RM300,000 to maintain service centres.
However, Ismail’s predecessor, Muhyiddin Yassin only offered equal allocations to all MPs in 2021, prior to his resignation as prime minister, as one of the overtures to all parties to keep his administration intact.
Shahidan went on to say that this was one aspect of the budget the opposition strongly disagreed with.
He also said his constituents may not understand that he couldn’t assist them as he had no funds.
“And we will feel pressured as the public will be coming to us for help, but we don’t have the funds to do so.”
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