[UPDATED] Funds ready, come negotiate with us, Anwar tells opposition

KUALA LUMPUR – The government has readied funds equally for constituencies, but Perikatan Nasional (PN) lawmakers have yet to come forward to request them, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said. 

He again invited them today to negotiate for equal constituency funding, as while the allocations have been prepared, they will be disbursed subject to negotiations and agreement to certain conditions set by the government.  

“I have said it before, approval has been given. It’s just that we ask the opposition to negotiate on the agreed parameters. What’s the problem?” Anwar said today during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.  

He said the opposition should send their representatives to meet Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof to begin discussions.

Anwar responded to Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (Arau) who was seeking funds from the government to allow opposition lawmakers to assist their constituents. pic.twitter.com/hcGSfMRatk

— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) April 4, 2023

“If you are not ready, then it will be postponed. We are not imposing strict conditions, no. But allow the parameters of approval to be discussed first. 

“In principle, we have agreed. If you want the money, come and discuss it. If you don’t, you can wait.”

Anwar was responding to Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (Arau-PN) who was seeking funds from the government to allow opposition lawmakers to assist their constituents.  

“Pakatan Harapan (PH) MPs will go home happy today because they have been given an allocation of RM800,000. I ask the prime minister for an explanation, if you can’t give much, at least provide a little for us to buy kurma for the poor people,” Shahidan said. 

Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (Kota Baru-PH) then asked if the prime minister really meant what he said about approvals for equal constituency funds subject to negotiations. 

“This is the first time I’m hearing this in the House. If this is the mechanism, God willing, we will work on it.”

In reply, Anwar said: “I have said this before, the other MPs have also heard it, and I am stressing it here again – negotiate (with us). We have our representatives, send yours, end of story.  

“There’s no issue. You (opposition) keep scolding me, accusing me of not giving (equal funding). I have announced from the beginning that approval has been given and we have included it in our allocation.”

Anwar’s remarks today echo what he said on March 7 in the Dewan Rakyat, when he invited the opposition to negotiate with the government for equal constituency funding. 

He said then that negotiations on the same matter had been the case when PH was on the opposition bench during Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration previously. – The Vibes, April 4, 2023