KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has described Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s proposed perks for the Opposition Leader in exchange for cross-party cooperation ahead of next month’s vote of confidence in Parliament as insensitive and an “insult” to him.

Anwar said while the welfare of Opposition lawmakers was important, additional perks were something that no one had asked for nor thought reasonable enough to be given under the current economic circumstances.

More importantly, Anwar said ordinary Malaysians who are struggling should instead be chosen for consideration.

“It never even crossed my mind to think this is reasonable and wise. To me, it is an insult. People wanting to get an additional RM50 to RM100 monthly for their family expenses is already hard enough and you offer the Opposition Leader between RM40,000 and RM50,000 in a salary raise inclusive of all the perks.

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“You’ve chosen poorly,” Anwar said during a Facebook Live session tonight.

Anwar said it is for this very reason the Opposition chose to reject Muhyiddin’s offer, adding that he was in shock when it was first offered.

“I don’t want to dispute the motive behind it, but it is clearly a cunning move that is insensitive to the hardship faced by the rakyat for the sake of survival by attempting to entice Opposition lawmakers and political parties while people are suffering,” he said.

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Anwar’s remarks follow Pakatan Harapan’s unanimous decision to reject Muhyiddin’s offer to work together in a bipartisan manner yesterday.

Earlier, he also said the attempt by the prime minister stemmed from the government’s own weaknesses and carelessness.

He also said the offers of bipartisan cooperation including a slew of constitutional and law amendments that will be implemented by the government following the passing of the vote of confidence was unreasonable as these can be tabled by a new prime minister since Muhyiddin has clearly lost his legitimacy and parliamentary majority.

Among the constitutional and law amendments included setting a two-term limit for the prime minister, lowering the voting age to 18 (Undi18) without waiting for the automatic voter registration process, as well as a Bill on anti-party hopping laws.

In his speech yesterday, the prime minister also insisted that not a single MP can prove they had the majority support to be able to present themselves to the King to appoint them as the new prime minister. He also urged all MPs to discuss his proposals next week.

Muhyiddin, whose support among MPs has been questioned, is scheduled to table a motion of confidence in the Dewan Rakyat on September 7.