KLANG: Perikatan Nasional (PN) has reaffirmed its rejection of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding allocations for opposition Members of Parliament (MP), even if a new draft proposal is presented to the government.
PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin expressed skepticism about whether the government would accept any proposals from the opposition.
He urged the government to adopt a more open-minded approach and avoid imposing unreasonable conditions on PN MPs in order to facilitate allocations.
"Why do we need an MoU? It is reasonable for allocations to be distributed to all, as promised by PH in their manifesto," he said. "Unfortunately, they failed to deliver on their manifesto promises. During our administration, we provided for everyone without requiring applications or letters."
Muhyiddin noted that they did not have a Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA), let alone an MoU.
"For example, in the northern states under PN administration, all allocations were distributed," he added after a meeting and dialogue session with NGOs at Dewan Lamanara today.
Present at the meeting were PN's election director for the Mahkota state by-election, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali; PN Johor Chairman Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal; and PN candidate Mohamad Haizan Jaafar, known as Coach Haizan.
Muhyiddin said that there is little value in submitting a new draft proposal, as they believe the same treatment will continue for opposition MPs.
"This is why we see no purpose in making a counter-proposal. We've discussed the reasons for their proposal."
He said that within his party, there has been no interest in creating a counter-proposal because they knew that any new proposal would not be met with support or funding.
"After two years of negotiations, how many discussions have been held? If you want to give, just give."
Muhyiddin reminded the government that its actions could ultimately harm the people rather than the opposition MPs.
"Who suffers if not the people? Our constituencies are lacking allocations. We want to help the people, not enrich ourselves."
He added, "The decision is clear: we reject the MoU for numerous reasons related to constitutional matters."
"I don't need to elaborate; the opposition leader has already spoken on this issue. Many parties have voiced opinions that this should be rejected," he said.