KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy president of the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that three Members of Parliament (MPs) from Perikatan Nasional (PN) have been chosen to represent the coalition in talks with the unity government for equal allocation of constituency funds.
Local media reported that the three were Opposition Leader Hamzah Zainudin as well as Mr Takiyuddin Hassan and Dr Radzi Jidin.
“We have three representatives from the opposition to hold negotiations which are expected to be held in the near future,” Tuan Ibrahim was quoted as saying by Bernama on Wednesday (Apr 5).
The three MPs are expected to hold talks with Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof on the issue.
“We hope (the talk) can be expedited and I expect there will only be one round of negotiations,” Tuan Ibrahim said, according to Bernama.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the constituency funds for the opposition MPs had been readied by the government but that none of the PN lawmakers have come forward to request for them.
PN lawmakers comprises those from PAS as well as Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
“Approval (for the fund) has been given, only negotiations are needed from the Opposition about the parameters. What’s the problem?
“We’re not asking for strict rules. We only need the approval parameters to be discussed between the government and the Opposition,” Mr Anwar was quoted as saying in parliament by The Star.
Mr Anwar was responding to PN lawmaker Shahidan Kassim who had asked about the allocation for Opposition MPs.
“Today, Pakatan Harapan’s MPs are happy because they will get an allocation of RM800,000 (US$182,000) but the Opposition didn’t get anything.
“If not much, give us some (allocation) because we want to buy dates for the poor people,” Mr Shahidan told parliament on Tuesday, according to The Star.
It was previously reported by local media that the government had given equal allocation of constituency funds to elected representatives under the administration of former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.