Amid reports of exorbitant claims by members of Parliament, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang said today the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) should investigate the travel claims by all MPs and not only those from opposition parties.

In a press statement, Lim ( left ) said the ACA should not focus on investigating claims above RM10,000 per month only as they may be for valid purposes while claims lower than RM10,000 could still be abused by MPs to attend "meaningless" functions.

"Whether there is abuse of the travel claims and therefore corrupt practice is not determined by the total amount, as there could be abuses and corrupt practices in false claims below RM10,000 a month," he said.

Lim's remarks came following the disclosure in the Dewan Rakyat by parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister's Department Noh Omar on Wednesday that 14 MPs made travel claims exceeding RM10,000 a month last year while six MPs were paid over RM10,000 a month during the first half of this year.

Out of the14 MPs named in the list for last year, eight are from the opposition while two opposition MPs were featured in this year's list.

Topping the two lists is PAS MP for Jeli Mohd Apandi Mohamad ( left ) who claimed a total of RM132,000 last year and RM78,356.96 for the first half of this year.

In addition, the DAP chairperson criticised the ACA for showing initiative to investigate only when opposition MPs are implicated but not in various other corruption allegations involving government ministers.

"Why is the ACA only forthcoming to act on this basis with regards to newspaper reports concerning opposition personalities but never affecting Barisan Nasional ministers, chief ministers, menteri besar and other leaders?" he asked.

Three-person team

According to the DAP chairperson, the proper thing for the authorities to do now is to review existing laws and regulations to determine whether it is right and proper to allow MPs to make "such excessive travel claims".

"Although I have been an MP for 30 years, it is news to me that MPs can make such excessive travel claims as to exceed RM10,000 a month which have nothing to do with parliamentary meetings, a practice which must have been introduced after the 1999 general election," said Lim, who served between 1969 to 1999.

Lim said that although he supported investigations into the propriety and authenticity of the monthly travel claims above RM10,000, he suggested for Parliament to appoint a three-person team to look into the matter.

"The government should first make public the full list of monthly travel claims made by every MP since the 1999 general elections.

"The government should also announce all various allowances which had been paid to each cabinet minister, deputy minister and parliamentary secretary," he said.