PKR MP's call for more pay untimely, detached: Bersatu Youth

Summary

• Bersatu Youth slams PKR MP Wong Chen’s recent call for lawmakers to receive higher salaries.

• Its assistant secretary, Fahim Farid, says the call is “detached” from the realities faced by struggling citizens.

• He says more focus should be given to ensuring opposition MPs receive equal parliamentary allocations - a suggestion also mooted by Wong.

Bersatu Youth has opposed a PKR MP’s recent proposal to raise lawmakers’ salaries, slamming the “untimely” call as one detached from the realities faced by the people.

Criticising the recent suggestion by Subang MP Wong Chen, Bersatu Youth assistant secretary Fahim Farid called for a focus on addressing inequalities in parliamentary allocations.

“The country is facing severe pressure from high cost of living, soaring prices of goods, targeted subsidies, expanded taxes, and unstable job opportunities.

“In such a situation, what is the logic behind proposing a salary increase for politicians?” he questioned in a statement today.

Fahim claimed that while government MPs receive an annual RM3.8 million in constituency allocations, RM300,000 in office management funding, and access to various government facilities, their opposition counterparts receive “zero, not a single cent”.

“It should be kept in mind that the majority of Perikatan Nasional MPs represent Malay-majority constituencies where the communities are most affected by economic pressures and basic needs.

“Yet, allocations continue to be blocked, not because (MPs) have failed to perform, but simply because they are in the opposition,” he lamented.

As such, Fahim urged a halt to any talks of raising MP salaries while the people remain burdened by hardships, adding that the dignity of Parliament must be strengthened through comprehensive reform.

“When the Parliamentary Services Act was recently (revived), there was no concrete resolution offered to address unequal allocation issues. While the Act was touted as a reform step, it is merely cosmetic,” he said.

Performing honourably

Yesterday, Wong said MPs deserve to receive higher salaries as they are currently “underpaid” while having to support not only their families, but also their officers and staff.

“Political work is unusual. Until you become a politician, you won’t understand what the cost entails… a lot of allowances is not (a) salary,” he said at an event in Kuala Lumpur.

Noting that Singapore pays higher salaries to its elected officials, Wong said making MPs’ lives “more comfortable” while providing them with the resources to do their jobs would ensure they can perform “honourably”.

He also called for a fairer allocation of constituency development funds, insisting that such funding should be equally provided to opposition MPs to reduce the chances of party-hopping.

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