By Yasmin Ramlan
SHAH ALAM, Nov 24 — The Selangor government will allocate RM50,000 to each opposition assemblyman to facilitate them make necessary preparations for their respective constituency offices, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari announced.
He said the allocations are scheduled to be disbursed before the end of the year.
“We will allocate RM50,000 for this year to support the preparation of their office and facilities so that they can serve the people efficiently,” he said at today’s State Legislative Assembly sitting.
According to Amirudin, the decision was made taking into consideration the specific needs of the offices of opposition assemblymen.
He also welcomes discussions with the opposition bench to explore the possibility of a monthly constituency funding for all their representatives.
“We can discuss the specific mechanisms on the fund distribution, so that everything runs smoothly,” he said.
Amirudin said this in response to a question from Kuang assemblyman Mohd Rafiq Mohd Abdullah regarding the amount of monthly and annual allocations for government and opposition assemblymen.
Meanwhile, the Menteri Besar clarified that the monthly allocation will be distributed as a one-off payment on an annual basis.
“We have specific criteria for each constituency because we need to distribute allocation based on the number of voters or people in the constituency,” he said.
For instance, he said constituencies with 40,000 voters or less will receive RM750,000 annually.
This is followed by RM800,000 for constituencies with 40,001 to 55,000 voters, RM850,000 (55,001 to 70,000 voters), RM900,000 (70,001 to 90,000 voters), and RM950,000 (over 90,000 voters).
“However, for this term, the allocation for the opposition will be slightly different because previously, there were only three categories. This is subject to discussions.
“For the current term, I have to meet with the opposition representatives after the conclusion of the state assembly session, as I have yet to receive any allocation request from them,” he said.
