WARISAN MPs have not received the constituency funds promised to all lawmakers across political parties from the government, a senior leader of the Sabah-based opposition party said.

“We have not gotten the allocation, as far as I know, as of today,” the source, who is also an MP, told The Malaysian Insight. He spoke only on condition of  anonymity. 

All that Warisan MPs have received for this year is the annual allocation of RM100,000 meant for opposition MPs, he added.

The source said Warisan could be left out of the additional funding because of its decision to not sign the bipartisan Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Transformation and Political Stability.

The MOU, signed between Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Pakatan Harapan parties (PKR, DAP and Amanah) last month, promises parliamentary reforms, the lowering of voting age to 18 and also equal funding for all constituencies.

The promise of equal funding would be a break from past practice whereby the government of the day has always given larger allocations to government MPs. Only RM100,000 is allocated for each opposition MP.

The funds are meant to be used by an MP for improvements in infrastructure development in his or her constituency, or as grants and donations to civil society groups working in their seat.

The Warisan MP questioned the need for an MOU on something that was the government’s duty.

“Why do we need to sign a MOU for things that any good government is supposed to do?” he said when asked why Warisan decided to sit out of the MOU.

“Take Undi18 for instance. Ae (all MPs) approved it the last time. Why do we have to make a deal in order for (the government) to implement it?” the lawmaker asked, referring to unanimous support in the Dewan Rakyat for the Undi18 bill in 2019. Implementation, however, has been delayed with the government citing the Covid-19 epidemic.

“It is an obligation for any government to do, just like all the reforms they promised.

“Are they saying if we don’t sign the MOU, then they won’t do it? That’s even worse,” the MP added.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Mastura Mohd Yazid told the Dewan Rakyat last month that Putrajaya has agreed to provide equal constituency funds to all lawmakers for the remaining four months of the year.

She said it was part of Ismail’s commitment to implementing parliamentary transformations.

“For that reason, I would like to inform the Dewan Rakyat that for the remaining four months of this year, beginning September to December 2021, the prime minister has agreed to give equal constituency funds to all MPs, even the opposition members,” she said.

Meanwhile, a DAP MP said lawmakers from PH parties who signed the MOU recently received half the promised funds totalling RM500,000 for constituency activities and RM100,000 for office operations.

“We’ve only received RM250,000 and RM50,000. We were also given a briefing last week,” said the MP who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Other reforms promised in the MOU include limiting the tenure of the prime minister to 10 years and the tabling of an anti-party hopping bill. – October 19, 2021.