DAP urges Anwar to live up to Harapan manifesto, give equal funding to all MPs

DAP head Gobind Singh Deo welcomed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's recent announcement of an extra RM1 million for every one of Malaysia's 222 parliamentary districts. However, he emphasized that this measure alone wouldn't address the core issue. Deo called on the prime minister to allocate equal funds to all MPs and to codify this practice through legislation to ensure consistent funding for all Malaysian constituents.

This stance is rooted in the belief that unequal funding violates the democratic mandate of elected representatives and could disadvantage voters based on their political choices.

Deo reiterated DAP's commitment to this pledge as outlined in Pakatan Harapan's election manifesto. He urged the prime minister to rectify the delay and take action by first providing all MPs with equal allocations, and then enacting legislation to permanently secure equal constituency allocations for every MP in Malaysia. While welcoming the additional funds, Deo stressed that legislation mandating equal funding for all MPs would eliminate political discretion in the distribution of development funds, thereby safeguarding the rights of voters nationwide.

DAP made its stance known just a day after setting a year-end deadline for Anwar to pass reforms such as separating the roles of the attorney-general and the public prosecutor and setting a term limit for the prime minister. The digital minister noted that groundwork for some of these reforms had already been prepared, with bills drafted and ministerial statements presented in Parliament.

Two weeks ago, civil society group Projek Sama had urged the ruling coalition to enact laws guaranteeing equal constituency development funds for all elected representatives, arguing that the coalition's losses in the recent state elections in Johor and Negeri Sembilan should convince the party of the long-term benefits of such legislation.