RM1 million to PR ADUNs, RM0 to BN and other ADUNs - Discrimination just like what BN did

BN is bad when it only gives allocations of millions to their own MPs and ADUNs .... but, just like BN Pakatan Rakyat (Selangor) is also doing the same. I hope that PR will behave differently, and if there are allocations going to ADUNs for the benefit of the people in the constituencies, then the allocations must be for all the ADUNs, the representatives chosen by the people irrespective of the ADUN's political affiliations. Just giving to PR ADUNs and not to BN and other ADUNs is discriminatory, disrespect for the people and the democratic process, and certainly wrong.

So, when PR come into power, will things be the same as now. Would only PR MPs get money from the Federal Government? Will BN States not get the same allocations as the other PR States? Will 'oil royalties', etc due to the state be withheld because the state is being governed by a BN government? Will Najib and some BN leaders be languishing in Kamunting under the ISA? 

Malaysians want PR to be different - to be a better alternative to the present BN, but the actions of the Selangor PR government does not help.

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor state government is allocating RM1mil to each of its Pakatan Rakyat state assemblymen to carry out upgrading works in their respective constituencies ahead of a possible general election this year.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the allocation was for road repairs, drainage and other upgrading works for the people’s benefit.

Speaking to reporters after chairing the weekly exco meeting yesterday, Khalid said, no allocation, however, would be channelled through state representatives from Barisan Nasional.

Explaining the matter, he said, Barisan federal government also discriminated against Pakatan MPs.

“If Parliament allocates funds for its MPs, we will also do the same,” he said. - Star, 13/1/2011, S’gor PKR reps to get RM1mil for upgrading works

See also earlier posts:-

RM1 mil for BN MPs, RM500,000 for PR ADUNs - this is Discrimination, bad practice and should stop

BN ADUNs should also get RM500,000 from Selangor Government. End discrimination - respect people's democratic choice

SELCAT- step in the right direction. Open to the public? Non-PR ADUN should also get the RM500,000

Remember also that Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael D Jeyakumar has taken this matter to court in an effort to end this kind of discrimination by the UMNO led-BN Federal Government, and so really Pakatan Rakyat must not be like the BN.

In my opinion, there should maybe not be such allocation to MPs/ADUNs, i.e. "...for road repairs, drainage and other upgrading works for the people’s benefit...". MPs/ADUNs should be doing the job of MPs and ADUNs and not that of the Local Councils and other departments. People should be educated and empowered about the various different departments/etc that they should go to get their road repaired, etc. MPs/ADUNs of the Opposition, the alternative to BN, must stop the old ways of BN that tells people that they cannot do anything or get anything done unless they come through BN. This must change... 

If the State or Federal government wants to give MPs and/or ADUNs additional allocations, then this must be for setting up of 'service centres', hiring of more staff, researchers, phone/communications, etc for currently the allowances of MPs/ADUNs is pathetic and there is not enough even to set up a good team of assistants to the ADUN/MP - who would include also research assistants who will assist MPs/ADUNs go through Bills they have to debate, research so that when they make a point - it will no more be 'cakap kosong' but is backed up with some good points, etc...

And if MPs and/or ADUNs are given any allocation by the Federal (or State governments or Local Governments), then it must be to all of them irrespective of party affliations. 

Talking about roads and drains... maybe, as a matter of practice, the ADUN  and the MP and/or  their nominated representative, should be members of the Local Council - and this is where such matters could be effectively raised by these democratically elected  representatives of the people...

Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim today announced an allocation of RM1 million to all Pakatan Rakyat state assemblypersons disbursed within the next three months.

“This is for the state representatives to repair roads, build bridges and improve drainage, in conjuction with the respective local governments,” explained Khalid at a press conference after chairing the state exco meeting at the state secretariat building in Shah Alam this afternoon.

However, he admitted that the disbursement of the allocations will mimic BN's practice of withholding allocations from opposition elected represenatives, in an eye-for-an-eye move that will see state allocations denied to BN representatives.

“This allocation is only to Pakatan representatives, just like they withhold funds from our parliamentarians,” said Khalid (left), who is also Bandar Tun Razak MP.

Asked if he would follow BN if the ruling coalition "jumped off a cliff", Khalid laughed it off.

“If they jumped off a cliff, we will look first,” quipped the MB.

Taking a more serious tone, he said that they had actually approached BN to try and work out a solution.

“We offered them that if they distribute allocations to all MPs fairly, we will do the same with state allocations.

“But they refused,” said Khalid, shrugging off the matter.

Draft amendment ready next week

Meanwhile, at the same press conference, Khalid also announced that the final draft for the proposed bill to amend the state constitution to return the power of appointing state executive officers to the MB and sultan, will be ready next week.

“The initial draft is ready, but we need to discuss with our exco members further. We already briefed them, but they are asking for another meeting.

“We also need to brief our friends in Pakatan, as this is a big issue with serious implications. I estimate that the draft will be ready next Wednesday at the latest,” he said.

Khalid was also asked for his reaction to Umno's challenge for him to point out how have they committed treason against the king.

Umno took away sultan's power

“I never said they committed treason, but if that word is used, I am okay with it.

“They took away the power of the sultan in 1993,” said Khalid in response.

Asked about Umno's answer that they remain loyal to the sultan as they continue to consult the ruler over state executive appointments after the amendment, he argued that it was just an Umno PR exercise.

“They were just being diplomatic.

“They took away the sultan's power and then went to him and say, this is our choice, now you just look and smile,” contended Khalid. - Malaysiakini, 12/1/2011, RM1 million windfall for Selangor Pakatan reps

 

RM1 mil for BN MPs, RM500,000 for PR ADUNs - this is Discrimination, bad practice and should stop

Opposition MPs are unhappy that the government discriminates against them, and their constituents.

Malaysian Federal Constitution guarantees equality - and there is no justification why the Federal Government of Malaysia does not treat all MPs equally. 

Money - UMNO-led BN MPs get an annual grant for constituency development of RM1 million (I thought it was RM2 million), but not the non-BN MPs. Is this not discrimination? Yes, it is. The people democratically chose their MP, and it is wrong for the Federal Government to treat MPs differently, i.e. solely based on the political party they belong to. All MPs should get the RM1 million from the government.

But wait, the Pakatan Rakyat also practices similar discrimination. The Selangor government also give allocations to the ADUNs, but only the Pakatan Rakyat ADUNs - and this is also very wrong.

Pakatan Rakyat hence loses the moral standing to now criticize UMNO-led BN government preferential treatment of MPs and ADUNs belonging to BN parties (or friendly to BN). See earlier post:BN ADUNs should also get RM500,000 from Selangor Government. End discrimination - respect people's democratic choice

I expected Pakatan Rakyat to do better - and teach the BN good practices in a democracy. But alas, the justification is that BN gives only its people - so now, the Pakatan Rakyat also will give to its own people. Wonder Pakatan Rakyat is doing the same also when it comes to projects, approvals, etc. Will there be more development projects now (and money spend) in constituencies where the MP/ADUN is Pakatan Rakyat. Will those who chose BN be sidelined?   - Change. Respect people's choices and freedom to choose who they want.

Malaysiakini
Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael D Jeyakumar is seriously considering taking the federal government to court for withholding the annual grant for constituency development.

He said he has appointed a lawyer to study the matter and has given himself two months to decide whether or not to proceed with the suit.

“We want to make sure the case is watertight,” he said when contacted today. “The federal government has no right to withhold the money. This is the people’s money, not Barisan Nasional’s money. Who is using the money? Where is the accountability and transparency to ensure the money is well spent for the benefit of the people?”

Each parliamentary constituency is allocated RM1 million as an annual grant for development projects.

Jeyakumar – the sole MP from Parti Sosialis Malaysia – said that, to the best of his knowledge, opposition MPs have not received the allocation.

Two demands

If he proceeds with filing legal action, Jeyakumar indicated that he would seek two declarations from the court:

• that it should be left to the MP to choose the projects; and
• that the allocation should be disbursed in a transparent manner so that there is no abuse of the process.

He reiterated that he is merely fighting for the rights of opposition MPs who now face unequal treatment compared to their BN counterparts

“The grant is not for me, it is for the people. Let us be transparent as to where it is allocated,” he said.

Jeyakumar caused a major upset in the 2008 general election when he defeated MIC president S Samy Vellu, who had held the Sungai Siput seat since 1974.- PSM Website

By, the way the other interesting question is whether it is legal for the government to be giving such "development grants" to MPs/ADUNs directly? Is there any provision of law that allows for this? I do not think so. There are clear laws that provide for what is the role and responsibility of an MP/ADUN, and also how much he/she gets from the government?

MPs/ADUNs should bring to the attention of the relevant State/Federal Departments/Local Councils about things that need to be done - that is all. It is then the responsibility of the relevant department, who should be handling all these 'development grants', to do the needful? There is no need for individual MPs/ADUNs to be getting any money from the government. 

If money is to be given to MPs/ADUNs, it must be part of the budget - and, in my opinion, the only money that may be given may be rental & utility bills of service centres, salary/benefits of a certain number of support staff, etc - not money to 'bribe' the constituents to vote them in again. A bit of money for the youth football team, jerseys & trophy, some bags of rice, some RM to the poor/elderly, etc - is this not wrong. All monies should be disbursed by the relevant departments...not given to MPs/ADUNs, who then go around dishing out money/gifts pretending that it comes from them. That is what the BN was doing ...but Pakatan Rakyat and other MPs/ADUNs should not get into this bad practice. 

BN ADUNs should also get RM500,000 from Selangor Government. End discrimination - respect people's democratic choice

Selangor State government gives Selangor State Assembly Persons(ADUNs) yearly a sum of RM500,000-00 to be used in their respective constituencies. If the ADUN is a member of the State Exco, he/she gets RM600,000 [Why this discrimination?]

But the money apparently is only given to the Pakatan Rakyat ADUNs .... not the UMNO-led  BN ADUNs or other ADUNs.

For State Constituencies where the non-Pakatan Rakyat ADUN won, the money for the said constituencies(i.e. that RM500,000) is given to some Pakatan Rakyat ADUN to spend for that said constituencies.

What I see wrong with this is that this was exactly the same thing that the UMNO-led BN  was doing - giving yearly payments only to its own ADUNs and MPs for usage allegedly in their 'constituencies'. 

We have criticized this UMNO-led BN's practices in the past, calling for the end of discrimination - asking that all allocations that are being given to individual ADUNs/MPs should be given to ALL MPs/ADUNs irrespective of the party affiliations.

The people in the constituency have elected their rep - hence this decision must be respected, and all elected ADUNs [or MPs] must be treated the same ...equally [Art. 8 Federal Constitution].

If Pakatan Rakyat is different.... then the Selangor government should be giving this RM500,000 directly to the ADUNs the people wants, irrespective of whether they are from the Pakatan Rakyat or not.

Why is Selangor Government not giving the money to the UMNO-led BN ADUNs? Their answer is that the UMNO-led BN Federal Government is only giving a lot of money to its own ADUNs/MPs and not others, so we do the same. Comparatively, what their ADUNs/MPs are receiving is so much more than RM500,000... 

I say, that if that is the justification why Selangor is not giving the money to the non-Pakatan Rakyat ADUNs   - then it is pathetic. It is certainly wrong. Just because someone did a bad thing to you, it is not right to do the 'similar bad thing' to them. We have to be different and do what should be the RIGHT thing to do - i.e. Selangor should give all ADUNs the same RM500,000 for use in their respective constituencies

Set the standards... set the example... set up good democratic practices that respect the democratic process - the choice of the people.

There was pyrotechnics galore at the Selangor Select Committee for Accountability, Competency and Transparency (Selcat) right from the start of the hearing this morning but with a dramatic difference.

Unlike previous hearings, state officials were left out in the cold as two Pakatan assemblypersons turned on each other.

State watchdog committee chairperson Teng Chang Khim kept trading verbal punches with his DAP colleague Ronnie Liu during the morning session over the latter's style of disbursing constituency allocations.

Things even reached the stage where Teng decided to switch off Liu's microphone to stop him from speaking.

Hauled up

Liu, who is the state assemblyman for Pandamaran, was one of three Selangor Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers hauled up by Selcat to explain spending discrepancies in their constituency allocations.

The other two were Sri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Sri Muda assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafiei.

Liu of DAP is state executive councillor for local government and research.

He is also in charge of dispersing the allocations for the other two seats won by the BN, former Selangor menteri besar Khir Toyo's Sungai Panjang and MCA assemblyman Yap Ee Wah's Sungai Pelek.

Nik Nazmi, the political secretary to the present Selangor Menteri Besar, and Shuhaimi are both from PKR.

Liu, Nik Nazmi and Shuhaimi were said to have exhausted 99%, 87% and 71% respectively of their yearly allocation within the first six months last year.

Every state seat is entitled RM500,000 as constituency allocation while the amount for an exco member and the Speaker is RM600,000..... - Malaysiakini, 1/2/2010, Selcat fireworks: Teng switches off Ronnie