KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 ― Putrajaya will disburse the allocations to all MPs and states for the upkeep of their constituencies before Hari Raya Puasa which falls on June 15.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also said Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers will also receive allocations, but at a lower amount than their Pakatan Harapan (PH) peers.
“We will give the allocation to them, but of course it would be a little less. RM500,000 to us, and RM100,000 to them,” he said in a news conference in Putrajaya after a Cabinet meeting.
“The allocation will be RM500,000 for the MPs, and RM200,000 for their service centres, which will be issued before Hari Raya Aidilfitri,” Dr Mahathir said.
Malay Mail understands the RM500,000 allocation for PH MPs is only for the remaining six months of 2018.
According to a source privy to the planning, the government will review the sum for 2019. The government allocation might even go up to RM2 million each, the source added.
“Cabinet will review the amount for next year’s allocation, which could be up to RM1 or RM2 million,” the source told Malay Mail.
Opposition MPs were not allocated any government funding for their constituencies under the previous BN administration.
In 2015, national news agency Bernama reported Dr Mahathir’s predecessor as saying that he would increase the allocation for BN MPs who were already getting RM5 million each in 2016.
“Before, it was RM1 million; now it is RM5 million, but next year, there will be more. I will make an announcement about what we can do,” Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said during an Umno event in Gerik, Kedah.
