Projek SAMA calls on the Penang and Selangor governments to enact equal Constituency Development Fund (CDF) laws to fulfill Pakatan Harapan’s election pledge.
PETALING JAYA: The Penang and Selangor governments should immediately enact laws guaranteeing equal Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations for all elected representatives, said Projek Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek SAMA).
The group said both states, which are governed by Pakatan Harapan (PH) with comfortable majorities, faced no coalition-bargaining constraints that could prevent them from introducing legislation to ensure equitable CDF allocations.
It said doing so would also demonstrate PH’s commitment to fulfilling its election pledge to provide equal CDF allocations to all Members of Parliament.
“Both states are governed by PH with comfortable majorities, and neither faces any of the coalition-bargaining constraints that complicate reform at the federal level.
“Thus, there is no reason equitable CDF law cannot be passed in Penang and Selangor,” it said in a statement today.
Projek SAMA also welcomed DAP national chairman Gobind Singh Deo’s renewed call for the government to honour PH’s pledge on equal CDF allocations and enshrine the commitment in law.
It said CDF allocations at the federal level were currently administered as an internal allocation under the Prime Minister’s Department and could be disbursed or withheld based on the government’s assessment of an MP’s political allegiance.
A similar discretionary arrangement existed at the state level, with allocations administered through the respective Menteri Besar or Chief Minister, it said.
“Even in Perak and Kelantan, where all assemblypersons currently receive equal CDF, this equal treatment is not guaranteed by law.
“It continues only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, Menteri Besar or Chief Minister, and could be withdrawn at any time,” it said.
Projek SAMA said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s recent announcement of an additional RM1 million for every parliamentary constituency was welcomed but did not address the fundamental issue of discretionary allocations.
It pointed to Anwar’s recent remarks that development funds remained available for constituencies represented by MPs who opposed the government, but would not be channelled through those MPs.
“This is precisely the discretionary, party-favoured model of allocations that civil society organisations warned against,” it said.
The group said describing CDF as funds that went “directly to the Rakyat” while using access to the funds as leverage over elected representatives was contradictory.
“Public money administered through such unilaterally revocable executive discretion, rather than a transparent, rule-based statutory formula, will always be vulnerable to being weaponised for political compliance, regardless of which coalition is in power,” it said.
Projek SAMA said equal CDF was not a new demand but a commitment made by PH in its 2022 election manifesto.
“More than three years into government, this pledge remains unfulfilled.
“Any further delay will only erode the credibility of PH’s other reform commitments and lend weight to the argument that manifestos are campaign instruments rather than governing commitments,” it said.
It added that PH’s failure to legislate equal CDF ahead of the 16th General Election was a “self-inflicted liability” that could have been avoided.
Projek SAMA said enacting equitable CDF laws in Penang and Selangor would strengthen PH’s position in demanding similar reforms from Putrajaya and other state governments.
“Doing so would demonstrate that PH’s commitment is not confined to rhetoric about federal reform, but is something PH is prepared to practise in the states it already controls,” it said.
