They were responding to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s statement that he wanted to discuss the matter with the opposition.
Ahmad Fadhli Shaari and the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) said negotiations were not needed as equal allocations had been promised in Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) manifesto in the run-up to the general election.
Fadhli said he was unsure as to what Anwar was referring to when the latter touched on negotiations with the opposition bloc.
“It is in the PH manifesto. There is no need to wait for negotiations,” the Pasir Mas MP said during a webinar titled “Equal Allocations for Opposition: A Missed Opportunity?”, organised by Bersih.
Also present were Ipoh Timur MP Howard Lee and Puteri Wangsa assemblyman Amira Aisya.
Fadhli also said the opposition was willing to sign a declaration similar to the pledges by the government MPs to be audited to ensure that the funds would be used for the intended purposes.
Earlier today, Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat that he was all for equal allocation for MPs across the divide, but wanted to negotiate the matter with the opposition bloc first.
The allocations, he said, could be approved as soon as the discussions were concluded.
IDEAS’ deputy research director, Sri Murniati Yusof said the funds were meant to help the constituents.
She said the allocations should be channelled directly to the office of the MP to ensure the funds reached its intended target.
The allocations, she went on to say, were meant to make up for the deficiencies in the Malaysia Plan and to assist the communities.
“Thus, negotiations should not be a condition in its disbursement,” she said.
Last week, a government backbencher Hassan Karim demanded Anwar provide equal allocation to parliamentarians across the divide to ensure aid would reach the public directly.
Hassan believed that the opposition should not be treated unfairly and proposed that the government should amend the law so that MPs, regardless of whether they were in the opposition or in government, would receive equal allocations.