THE government has agreed in principle to provide an allocation for members of parliament from the opposition, but only for their administrative expenses, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

He said the matter was being finalised, with discussions carried out by Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof with the relevant quarters, and an official announcement on it would be made by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“At this stage, we have agreed to provide the allocation to cover administrative expenses,” he told reporters today.

Zahid, who is also the rural and regional development minister, said this when asked whether the government would provide allocations for opposition lawmakers.

Prior to this, Fadillah was reported by the media as saying that no conditions were set by Perikatan Nasional (PN) during initial discussions on financial allocations for opposition MPs.

Meanwhile, Zahid, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, said BN and Pakatan Harapan were in the final stage of discussion on seat allocations for the Kedah elections.

“We are finalising the distribution of the seats for the election in Kedah. For the other (five) states, the matter will be announced when I am there,” he said. – Bernama, April 27, 2023.