KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 18): Think tank IDEAS has slammed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and the opposition, which underlined how Constituency Development Funds (CDF) to opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) will be distributed only upon meeting certain terms and conditions.

IDEAS, short for the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, described the MOU and the CDF as having become "a political negotiation tool that harms Malaysia’s democracy".

"We would first like to reiterate that CDF distribution should not be subject to negotiations of any sort. All MPs should receive equitable allocations, with the only condition being that they must be transparent with how the allocation is used," said IDEAS acting CEO Aira Azhari in a statement.

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Instead, all MPs should receive equal allocations with the sole condition of transparency in how the funds are used.

“The best way to institutionalise this is through legislation, which IDEAS and Bersih have consistently pushed for.

“The opposition has also racialised this issue unnecessarily, when they could have used this opportunity to demand for a CDF Act to be tabled, which will bind all future governments and put to rest the utilisation of CDF as a political weapon,” she said.

The think tank also suggested moving towards a system where CDFs are allocated to local councils, rather than individual MPs.

Leaders of the opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) and the federal government MPs are currently negotiating an MOU "to improve the government's political stability", according to terms of the MOU published to the media this week.

PN has reportedly rejected the draft MOU twice, as it alleged the MOU as curbing freedom of speech among opposition MPs, according to its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

"There is no need for allocation to opposition MPs to be provided through any agreements or MOUs," Muhyiddin said in a statement on Wednesday.

Separately, in response to opposition criticism of vague wording and interpretation of the terms of the MOU, deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said it is interpreted based on Malaysian laws.

The intention of the MOU "is to create a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere so that all members of parliament could focus on economic recovery and play a more constructive role in check and balances.

"This is important so that we could focus all our energy on the country's economic recovery; while strengthening unity among the people for the sake of Malaysia's wellbeing and prosperity," said Fadillah in a statement on Wednesday.

The last time the Malaysian political scene saw MOU signing between the ruling coalition and the opposition was in 2022, which focused on political stability and entailed commitment by then-government not to call off election early.

Meanwhile, IDEAS' Aira also called for long-term improvements to the political system.

She advocated for the introduction of a Political Financing Act, with public funding of political parties as a core feature, as well as a review of the sustainability of the current CDF mechanism.

“Malaysia’s democracy must evolve past partisan squabbles. Institutional reforms are critical to breaking the winner-takes-all political culture that has hindered our progress for decades,” Aira added.

It was reported that the proposed Political Financing Bill will be tabled in Parliament by December of this year, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) on political financing.

Its chairman, Wong Chen, said this was due to the draft for the highly-anticipated bill not being finalised despite the second meeting of the third session of the 15th Parliament to begin near the end of June this year.

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