KOTA BARU: Perikatan Nasional (PN) chief whip Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said he will be meeting Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof on June 13 to discuss the allocation for opposition members of Parliament (MPs).
Takiyuddin said he would represent opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
"The latest development on the issue involving the allocation for MPs is that l will be meeting the deputy prime minister on June 13, which is a week from now.
"He has given me the date to discuss the issue. So far, PN MPs have not received any updates on the matter.
"But we were told that the deputy prime minister has held a discussion with other party leaders in the unity government about the allocation for MPs," he said.
Takiyuddin, who is Pas secretary-general and MP for Kota Baru, said PN would consider first if any conditions were set in the meeting.
"If there is a condition, we will decide on it later, but what is important right now is the government needs to fulfil its promise by giving the opposition MPs their allocations.
"When we were in the government, we had a manifesto and we distributed allocations equally to all MPs. Each of them got about RM3.5 million in a year," he said.
On April 18, Fadillah said the unity government secretariat's top leadership had decided in principle to consider allocating funds for opposition MPs.
He said in the meeting at Seri Perdana complex, the secretariat had agreed to prepare a memorandum of understanding, which would be presented to the opposition for negotiation.
"This matter was agreed upon in a meeting that lasted over an hour, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and attended by top leaders of the component parties of the unity government," he said.
Fadillah, who is also the unity government chief whip, had previously said the secretariat would meet to discuss the allocation issue for opposition MPs, following a meeting with PN leaders on March 19.