PETALING JAYA: A Perikatan Nasional lawmaker has claimed that a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) was offered to opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin in exchange for parliamentary allocations.
However, Bersatu’s Ketereh MP Khlir Nor said the CSA involved backing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration in return for allocations earmarked to develop their constituencies, Utusan Malaysia reported.
“There was an offer to sign an agreement in exchange for support, with conditions attached,” he was quoted as saying.
“If it’s simply about giving allocations, that’s fine, but the problem is, there are conditions. What if these conditions are stringent?”
Khlir also said opposition MPs have no intention of meeting with deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof to negotiate for allocations so long as the government insists on imposing conditions, including asking for their support.
“In any case, we will only pursue these allocations through a consensus within PN and not on an individual basis,” he said.
Last November, Anwar reportedly denied that allocations for opposition MPs were tied to conditions requiring them to support his administration.
He also previously said opposition MPs must negotiate with the federal government if they wanted to receive parliamentary allocations.
Responding to claims that opposition MPs had not been given any allocations to help their constituents, Anwar advised them to learn from how Pakatan Harapan MPs behaved when in opposition.
A CSA with opposition MPs was last signed during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration. Ismail and three top PH leaders, including then opposition leader Anwar, signed the pact and agreed on the importance of an independent judiciary, institutional reforms and good governance.
