Fadillah: Govt still open to discuss funding for opposition MPs

PARLIAMENT | Deputy Prime Minister II Fadillah Yusof today said he is still open to discussing with opposition MPs on allocation for their respective constituencies, albeit individually.

This follows Perikatan Nasional’s snub of the government’s proposal for their memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Speaking at the Dewan Rakyat, Fadillah said so far only Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar) has submitted a response to the MOU draft and the government is looking into his counter-proposal.

“Insya-Allah I will call the Muar MP soon to give our response to his feedback.

“If there is any other MP from the other side (opposition) who wants to discuss with me individually, I am still open to it.

“It cannot be as a group anymore because I was informed that the party (PN) has already rejected (the MOU). So I cannot do anything about it because my duty is only to negotiate,} he said.

Fadillah, who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister, touched on the issue of allocation for opposition MPs during his Supply Bill winding-up speech this evening.

It was reported in September that PN leaders had rejected Putrajaya’s draft agreement on constituency allocations for opposition MPs.

Following this, Fadillah said that the government would respect the opposition’s rejection of the draft agreement.

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