KUANTAN: Regent of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah's decree to provide fair allocations to opposition elected representatives took centre stage at the Pahang state assembly here today.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) elected representatives when debating on the motion of thanks for Tengku Hassanal's royal address repeatedly harped on the allocation saying they hoped the Pahang government would turn it (allocation) into a reality.
Pahang's state assembly opposition leader Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (Pas-Cheka) said he noticed that the decree on the allocation has been widely reported by the media today and hopes the state government can make it (allocation) come true.
It became a little tense in the afternoon when Shahril Azman Abdul Halim (Pas-Jengka) during his debate, spoke about the issue saying opposition assemblymen in Kelantan and Terengganu were given equal allocation just like their government counterparts.
State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Biotechnology and Education committee chairman Datuk Seri Ir Mohd Soffi Abd Razak (BN-Benta) then stood up saying he did not agree with Shahril (on the allocation) and asked him to provide the amount.
At this juncture, Tuan Ibrahim stood up saying that he had confirmed with Kelantan Menteri Besar (Datuk Ahmad Yakob) that equal allocation was given to all elected representatives from both political divides in Kelantan.
He showed his mobile phone towards the others in the house saying he had just received the latest information from the Kelantan Menteri Besar confirming the allocation was handed to all elected representatives.
Shahril Azman confirmed that the information was accurate as Tuan Ibrahim is the Pas deputy president and was close with the top state leaders.
As the debate session progressed, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail stood up saying that his officer had just checked with Kok Lanas Umno assemblyman(Datuk Seri Md Alwi Che Ahmad) and that there were talks to give equal allocation but nothing had materialised.
He said the Pahang Finance Office has also checked with the Kelantan Finance Office and confirmed that there was no such allocation.
Upon realising that the topic on the allocation was hotly debated, Tuan Ibrahim stood up saying that he agreed previously there was no allocation for the opposition elected representatives.
"Even when I was the opposition assemblyman in 1999 (Jengka assemblyman), I did not receive any allocation. Let's open a new chapter together...the previous era has passed so now lets build a new Pahang," he said.
Pahang State Assembly deputy speaker Lee Chin Chen immediately reminded all the elected representatives in the august house to ensure their facts were accurate before they spoke and respect the time given for the debate session.
In his royal address yesterday, Tengku Hassanal said the opposition elected representatives should also be celebrated by the government as they were chosen by the people and fair allocation should also be given to them (the opposition).