A DAP parliamentarian has called on the prime minister to respond to claims in a Chinese language daily that allocations were given out to constituencies according to BN's assessment of its winnability regarding the seats.

NONE Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong said the allocation comes under the ‘special category' which has a budget of RM 513,957,100 for this year.

Yesterday, Sin Chew Jit Poh front-paged an allegation that the ruling coalition has tied the allocation of constituency development funds to its winnability in those particular seats.

The report said that no allocation would be provided for 'black' seats where BN feels it has no chance of winning.

On the other hand, 'white' seats - those perceived to be favouring BN - can obtain up to RM2.5 million per constituency.

There is also a 'gray' category for areas the coalition is said to be unsure of winning.

Five-fold increase

Liew added that the claims had brought to light two new "stunningly shocking" developments, if the report is true.

"For one thing, it is for the first time that the amount given to a constituency is not equal and tied to BN's winnability in that constituency," said Liew, in a statement.

"Second, if the amount of RM2.5 million for ‘white' seats is true, it is a five-fold increase over the last five years," he added.

Liew said that it has been a long standing practice of BN to exclude elected representatives from opposition parties to access the funds.

These monies are held in custody by the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister's Department.

"In most instances where the parliamentary constituency is held by the opposition, the funds are usually handled by the local Umno division chairpersons instead," said Liew, who is executive director of Penang-based think-tank SERI (Socio-economic and Environmetal Research Institute).

"Up until 2006, each parliamentary constituency was given RM500,000 from this source. However, the current figure is unclear as the amount has kept increasing in the last five years," he added.

Extra funds are normal, say BN MPs

Discriminatory 'slush funds' undemocratic