Selangor withholds Covid-19 funds from opposition reps

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari says allocations are never given directly to oppostion assemblymen, while Imram Tamrim calls it a backward step

(FMT) – The Selangor state government has withheld Covid-19 aid allocations from opposition assembly members. Instead the funds will be handled by coordinators.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said today that it was “normal practice” to channel allocations for opposition-held seats to coordinators or other persons of trust.

A copy of a letter was circulated on social media stating that nine opposition assemblymen in the state will not receive allocations of RM30,000 for Covid-19 related expenses.

Seven of the nine are from Umno, PAS and PPBM, and the other two were sacked from PKR last month,

Opposition leader and Sungai Air Tawar assemblyman Rizam Ismail accused the state government of playing politics “at a time when all focus should be on Covid-19”.

Speaking to FMT, Amirudin explained that each opposition-held constituency in Selangor was allocated RM200,000 in expenditure a year. However the money was never paid directly to the assemblymen.

He said the letter that was circulated, stating that the RM30,000 allowance would not be given directly to the opposition assemblymen, should not come as a surprise.

He said the allowance for “direct purchases” had been raised recently from RM20,000 for all 56 assemblymen in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“The letter (that went viral) is just a subset of the many letters that have been sent out and it is standard practice (not to give directly to opposition members).

“The YBs (assemblymen) under the ruling government will get more allocations, while the opposition YBs will get lower allocations. This has been put in practice for a long time.

In view of the recent shift of federal power to Perikatan Nasional, the coordinators of several new opposition-held constituencies had yet to be determined, he said. In the meantime, he said, several Pakatan Harapan MPs and assemblymen had been selected to handle those allocations:

Sijangkang – to be handled by Kuala Langat MP Xavier Jayakumar;
Gombak Setia – Sungai Tua constituency office, (Amiruddin’s constituency);
Sungai Air Tawar – Sabak assemblyman Ahmad Mustain Othman;
Bukit Antarabangsa – Lembah Jaya assemblyman Haniza Mohamed Talha;
Sungai Burong – Permatang assemblyman Rozana Zainal Abidin;
Semenyih – Hulu Langat MP Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus;
Selat Klang – Kapar MP Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid.

Amiruddin said this arrangement was made based on the politicians’ proximity to the opposition-held seats.

He said two other opposition-held seats – Hulu Bernam and Sungai Panjang – were not affected as they already had PH coordinators handling their allocations.

On the average, he said, PH assemblymen would get RM730,000 to RM800,000 in allocations yearly.

In a direct response, Sungai Panjang assemblyman Mohd Imran Tamrin said the state government’s move was a “step backwards”.

He also questioned why four PPBM assemblymen – Harumaini Omar, Mohd Shaid Rosli, Sallehudin Amiruddin and Adhif Syan Abdullah – were given direct allocations despite being “opposition” members.

The four were understood to have said they wanted to work with the state government.