PH to provide funding for opposition reps if it wins Melaka

Pakatan Harapan will continue providing allocations to opposition assemblymen if it regains control of Melaka, maintaining a practice introduced when the coalition governed the state in 2018.

Melaka PH chairman Adly Zahari said the allocations should be maintained to ensure all elected representatives have sufficient funds to carry out their duties and serve their constituents.

The former chief minister said the PH administration was the first state government to provide allocations to opposition assemblymen when it took office in 2018.

Drawing on his experience as an opposition assemblyman, Adly said the absence of such funding made it difficult for elected representatives to operate their service centres and assist residents.

“It is extremely challenging if you are an assemblyman and receive absolutely no allocations. At the very least, there must be funding to operate a service centre,” he told reporters yesterday.

Adly said while funds could be channelled through district offices and government agencies, allocations from the state government remained important in enabling opposition assemblymen to provide various forms of assistance to the public.

The PH candidate for Bukit Katil also outlined plans to expand the state’s digitalisation initiatives through a proposed Smart Melaka system, which would allow the public to apply for assistance and lodge complaints online.

He said the system would make the distribution of aid and resolution of public complaints more transparent and free from political influence.

The system would also allow the public to track the status of their complaints, including those involving infrastructure problems such as clogged drains and fallen trees, while enabling the government to monitor follow-up action.

Adly faces a four-cornered contest in Bukit Katil against Perikatan Nasional’s Ridzuan Sarif, Bersama’s Aliza Che Amran, and independent candidate Abu Bakar Sabudin.

He won the seat in the 2021 state election with a majority of 1,057 votes.

The Election Commission has set Nov 14 as polling day, with early voting scheduled for tomorrow.