KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): A government backbencher has echoed calls for Putrajaya to provide equal allocation to opposition members of Parliament to uphold democracy value in the country.

“The responsibility of an MP is very heavy, including drafting laws, [undertaking] research and debating on policies. To carry out these responsibilities, an MP requires many staff and officers,” DAP lawmaker Chow Yu Hui told the Dewan Rakyat in his debate on the revised Budget 2023 on Monday (March 6).

“We need to ensure that they receive a sufficient salary so that they are capable of providing the best service to the people and nation.

“Unfortunately, in the revised Budget 2023, we noticed that opposition MPs are not given allocation for expenditures on their respective service centres,” he said.

Chow [DAP-Raub] opined that administrating the country without equal allocation to opposition MPs would indirectly affect the parliamentary democratic system in the country.

“Most of the MPs in the government bloc were [in the] opposition before. We understand that if opposition MPs are not given sufficient resources, this will become a big burden for them to carry out their responsibilities,” he said.

Hence, Chow suggested the government enact a Parliamentary Service Bill to include equal allocations for both government and opposition MPs, as opposition MPs thumped desks in support of the idea.

Chow was then interjected by Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden [PAS-Alor Setar], who asked Chow whether he is aware that the opposition state assemblymen in Kedah are given operating allocation for their service centres.

“If that is the case, it is the right step,” said Chow in response, adding that the government could also learn from countries like the UK and Australia.

“The UK Parliament enacted the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 which established the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority where this body is responsible for setting and paying MPs’ allowances including the salaries of officers or interns.

“The Parliament of Victoria in Australia also established a tribunal that outlined how to calculate the budget of the office of an MP where the budget is set according to the number of voters but not based on the opposition parties or the government,” he said.

Last week, Hassan Abdul Karim [PKR-Pasir Gudang] told the Dewan Rakyat that the government should introduce the necessary measures to allow for automated equal allocation among MPs.

Citing the recent floods in Johor as an example, Hassan cited the importance of all MPs receiving the necessary funding to be channelled to their affected constituencies, whether they are supporting the government or the opposition.

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