Muhyiddin: No point giving counter proposal for equal allocations

Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin said there is no point in giving the government a counter-proposal to its draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) on allocations for opposition MPs.

He said the government should learn from PN’s time in power, claiming that his coalition had given the then-opposition its allocation freely.

“When we (PN) formed the government, we gave (allocations) to all. There was no need to ask, no letters, let alone an MOU, or a confidence and supply agreement.

“We give the example of the northern states under PN, which have a policy that the opposition is given allocations,” he told reporters at a press conference after his dialogue session with NGOs in Kluang, Johor.

However, checks by Malaysiakini showed that in February 2021, the PN government provided RM100,000 in allocations only after 32 opposition MPs issued a joint statement.

DAP’s Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh had also claimed that opposition MPs did not receive a single sen of allocation from the then-federal government.

Amount of allocations

Commenting further, Muhyiddin said the government’s MOU did not specify the amount of allocations that the opposition would receive.

Besides that, discussions over allocations have taken place over the two years since the unity government took power, he added.

“It has been two years. If people wanted to eat, they’d be dead (by now).

“It’s a good thing we’re still alive,” he said sarcastically.

Two days ago, opposition chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said new terms were needed if PN is to participate in hammering out a deal for opposition constituency development funds as the current ones are “completely unacceptable”.

The MOU lays down a set of conditions that MP from PN must accept in exchange for being given access to certain parliamentary services, particularly allocations equal to those granted to government MPs.

On Sept 15, PN announced its decision to reject those terms.

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