KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s decision to allocate RM100,000 in Covid-19 aid to each of the state’s 31 opposition assemblymen should be made an annual allocation, said state DAP secretary Chan Foong Hin.
Chan, who is also Kota Kinabalu MP, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor did not say that the fund is an annual allocation, instead placing it under the name of coronavirus aid.
“I hope it will eventually be an annual allocation systemically done for every opposition elected rep.”
He said the long-term goal should be equal allocation among elected reps, be it at the state or national level.
“The ruling party cannot penalise the people just because they did not vote for someone who’s aligned to the present government.”
Chan also said the allocation of such funds is nothing new.
“The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was the first to introduce an allocation for opposition MPs in 2018.
“The Penang and Selangor governments under PH have also been doing this since a few years back. It is nothing new.
“After the Sheraton Move and change of government to Perikatan Nasional (PN), Malaysia’s politics turned a new page.
“There are PN state governments that allocate constituency funding to opposition states like Perlis, Perak, Johor and Sabah, with Sabah being the fourth PN state to implement this.
“Nevertheless I will give credit where it is due.”
Today, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government announced that 31 opposition assemblymen in the state will get a special RM100,000 allocation each to help their constituents.
Hajiji said the allocation is to help the reps resolve problems in their respective constituencies and aid the people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The fund, involving RM3.1 million, will be channelled as quickly as possible to the reps through their respective district offices. – The Vibes, February 9, 2021
