KUALA LUMPUR: Bagan Datuk member of Parliament Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed he only received an RM100,000 allocation from the federal government for his parliamentary constituency this year.
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In an interview with NRCHANNELTV.NET last night, Zahid, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman and Umno president, said the amount is similar to the allocation received among opposition MPs.
Zahid also claimed other Umno MPs including Datuk Seri Najib Razak (Pekan), Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan (Pontian), Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz (Padang Rengas) and Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (Machang) received the same amount.
“To date, I only received RM100,000 for the year 2021. This is unlike the MPs in the government, who had received RM3.7 million,” he said.
Pressed further by the moderator during the interview if the amount was similar to the allocation received by opposition MPs, Zahid replied: “the amount received by opposition MPs is similar to the allocation received by Bagan Datuk, Pontian, Pekan, Padang Rengas and Machang.
“I hope whoever responsible for making such a decision could open their mind and heart sand give us the same allocation accorded to MPs who had supported the 2021 Budget.
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“We (Zahid and the other Umno MPs) endorsed our support for the 2021 Budget thrice, namely at the policy stage, committee stage and during the third reading.
“And this is the ‘present’ that we get. Alhamdulillah, RM100,000 in allocation a year for us,” said Zahid.
On demands made by certain quarters in Umno for him to retire as party president, Zahid said the matter would not resolve any issue beleaguering the party.
“There was a time when a group of MPs, who were in Umno at the time, demanded me to resign or go on leave. They had said they would remain in the party if I went on leave from my duties.
“However, the same group left Umno a day after I went on leave.
“Hence, it is clear that going on leave or relinquishing my post is not a solution to resolve issues affecting the party,” he said.- NST