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KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim clarified today that he had never shut the door to the possibility of allocating equal constituency funding to the opposition, granted there be negotiations.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman pointed out that this was also the case when his coalition was in the opposition bench during Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration previously.
“Negotiate nicely, and we can discuss the method. I will ask about the situation in Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, and Terengganu, and if there is an understanding, it can be done,” Anwar (Tambun-PH) said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
“I don’t want to fight. There are those swearing at me outside of Parliament, accusing me of being cruel; they did not take into account what happened before. I propose that there be a negotiation process.
“I am not rejecting the principle of granting equal allocation to the opposition. That has been my stand all along, but the negotiation process has not even taken place. What has taken place is a process of hostility.”
Anwar said he will assign the government’s chief whips and respective ministers to take part in the negotiations, before making a final decision.
“The faster we sort this out, the faster approvals will be given. If we can settle this tomorrow, then we can approve (the funding) the day after.”
He was responding to Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (Arau-PN), who said Anwar will be regarded as a better prime minister if he grants approval to the opposition’s request for equal constituency funding.
Since Anwar’s appointment as the country’s 10th prime minister in November last year, Perikatan Nasional (PN) lawmakers have been demanding that their MPs be accorded the same allocation as their government peers.
During recent debates in Parliament, almost all top PN leaders – including coalition chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Pagoh), secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (Larut), and PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang (Marang) – have raised the matter, accusing Anwar of not fulfilling election promises made by him and PH.
Anwar also questioned Shahidan if Muhyiddin was not acting based on the principle of equality when he refused to grant equal funding to the opposition during his time in federal power.
For the record, Muhyiddin only attempted to make this offer at the twilight of his tenure, after several Umno leaders withdrew their support then, in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to remain in power.
“Throughout Pagoh’s (Muhyiddin) time as prime minister, we (opposition) did not receive funding,” said Anwar.
“But that’s fine, because you are talking about Madani, meaning we should be fair. So does that mean that Pagoh was not being fair before? Is that what you are trying to say, Arau (Shahidan)?
“Because Arau was saying that we should not follow past practices that did not provide equal allocation to the opposition, because it is unfair. In fact, Marang (Hadi) said it’s cruel. I don’t want to be cruel.” – The Vibes, March 7, 2023