PONTIAN: Opposition members of parliament, including Barisan Nasional (BN) previously, only received an allocation of RM100,000 from the government, after the party lost in the 14th General Election (GE14).

Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan who said this believes that PN MPs who are now in opposition should also be given the same amount.

"Regarding the issue of allocations for the opposition, I leave the decision to the discretion of the top leadership and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"However, I would like to inform that during our time (as BN) in opposition for 22 months, we were only given an allocation of RM100,000.

"If they (the opposition) receive (an allocation of) RM100,000, that's fine too.

"I just want to inform you of the fact; it's not that we didn't receive anything," he said.

He said this during a media session at the Pontian MP's Open House, here, today.

Yesterday, the unity government's Supreme Leadership Council Secretariat essentially agreed to consider channelling allocations to opposition MPs.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof reportedly said the decision was reached during a meeting at Sri Perdana, Putrajaya, yesterday evening.

In this regard, he said, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be drafted first.

LINK: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/1039478/unity-govt-considers-...

He said the draft would then be extended to the opposition as a step for further negotiations.

In the meantime, Ahmad, who is also Pontian MP, said that the government's decision to provide allocations to opposition MPs aims to safeguard the welfare of the people in the respective parliamentary constituencies.

He said that the people and voters in every parliamentary constituency are still protected and never excluded from receiving contributions from the government.

"The government does not neglect them as members of parliament, but their constituencies are still protected. All voters in their areas receive contributions, cash aid.

"Any contributions provided by the central government are received by all the voters in their areas," he said.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2024/04/1040060/ahmad-maslan-pn-mps-should-get-rm100k-allocation-opposition-bn-did