Penang DAP may seek court redress on the special annual allocations by the state treasury and two local municipalities to Barisan Nasional elected representatives to carry out small projects in their respective constituencies.

National DAP chairperson and suspended Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh said the party is contemplating legal action against the state government and local municipalities for allotting an estimated RM500,000 annual fund for each BN MP and state assemblyperson while refusing to do the same for non-BN elected representatives.

"It's unfair that public funds are channelled to only BN elected representatives while those from the DAP and other opposition parties are denied access to the funds to carry out small projects to benefit the people," he told malaysiakini .

Under the policy, a BN elected representative will receive RM200,000 from the state treasury and another RM300,000 from either the Penang Island Municipal Council or the Seberang Perai Municipal Council, depending on whether they are from the island or mainland.

The annual allocation is meant for the BN MPs or state assemblypersons to carry out public programmes such as providing financial aid and upgrading basic facilities and amenities in their constituencies.

With the fund, the MPs and state assemblypersons can upgrade roads, drains and carry out cleanliness campaigns in residential areas and villages.

Apart from that, it can be utilised to provide financial assistance, supply appliances and equipment, and upgrade basic amenities for vernacular and missionary schools, temples, mosques, churches, children playgrounds, neighbourhood watch groups or rukun tetangga, village safety and development committees and non-government organisations.

Up their popularity

Over the years, BN elected representatives have blatantly used this annual allocation to increase their political popularity among their constituents by implementing vote catching programmes, particularly during an election year.

Karpal said the annual allocation had worked in favour of the ruling party over the years resulting in dwindling opposition influence among the electorates.

"Although its public fund, the people perceive it as contributions from their BN MPs or state assemblymen. Therefore they cast their votes for BN," said the embattled DAP chairperson.

At present, Penang BN has 38 state assemblypersons and eight MPs.

On the other hand, the DAP has four MPs and sole state assemblyperson, while PAS has one state assemblyperson and Parti Keadilan Rakyat has a MP in party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The state government has stressed that the annual funds are allocations meant for all elected representatives in Penang irrespective of their political backgrounds.

However, what irks the DAP is that such an assurance had remained mere lip service until now.

According to Karpal, applications for the fund made by opposition members had never received a positive reply.

"Our legal team is studying the legal perspective of the allocation. If there is loophole to show that the allocation has been misused to increase BN's popularity, we will take court action," the DAP chief said.

ATHI VEERANGGAN is malaysiakini 's Penang-based stringer.