Give All Reps Equal Funds, Projek Sama Tells PH After Poll Losses

Projek Sama has urged the government to table an equal funding law for MPs when Parliament reconvenes in October, and called on all state governments to do the same in their respective legislative assemblies.

The NGO said Pakatan Harapan's (PH) losses in the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections should convince the coalition, in particular, that equal funding laws will be in its long-term interest.

"If no such law is enacted and PH were to end up in the opposition after the next election, its MPs and assemblymen would be severely handicapped in serving their constituencies under an Umno-PAS dominated government," it said in a statement.

Projek Sama also lauded the Perak and Kelantan state governments for already providing equal funds to all assemblymen, though this has yet to be institutionalised.

"We urge both states to take their democratic leadership a step further by codifying equitable funding into state law, setting an undeniable precedent for the rest of Malaysia to follow," it said.

The group further urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to immediately restore constituency funding access for Subang MP Wong Chen and Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung.

The duo were among PKR MPs who attended the launch of former PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli's new party, Bersama.

Wong and Lee were barred from accessing the MyKhas portal, which manages special funding for constituencies, in May.

Projek Sama rejected Anwar's argument that constituency funds could go "directly to the rakyat" without involving the MPs.

"If this is true, why did PH explicitly demand equal funding for MPs in its 2021 memorandum of understanding with the Ismail Sabri Yaakob government?" it asked.