Ex-deputy minister calls for govt-PN committee on MOU

A former deputy minister has proposed for a bi-partisan working committee to be formed so the government and opposition can draft acceptable terms for the MOU on constituency allocations.

Taking to X, Ong Kian Ming was referring to the draft MOU which was rejected by the Perikatan Nasional opposition coalition on Sunday.

“This is what Pakatan Harapan did with the Ismail Sabri (Yaakob) government to come up with the MOU that was signed in 2021,” he said.

The former Serdang MP was citing the confidence and supply agreement signed to strengthen political stability amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rather than the current MOU drafting process, Ong argued the best way forward would be to pass a Constituency Development Act, giving equal allocations to MPs regardless of party affiliation.

He also denounced the automatic cancellation of the MOU due to non-compliance with the clauses, questioning the lack of an oversight process for this.

“(It is also) not clear why the opposition MPs need to declare their assets (and) the scope of what cannot be said as an opposition MP is very wide,” he added.

MOU rejection

The MOU seeks to impose rules on PN parliamentarians in exchange for constituency development funds.

Earlier, PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin reiterated his coalition’s objections that the MOU’s terms are unconstitutional and contrary to Malaysian values.

He said this after federal government chief whip Fadillah Yusof – who represented the government in negotiations on the MOU’s terms - made public the terms of the draft MOU, following PN’s decision to reject the MOU and openly criticise it.

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