MP may sue gov't over 'missing' RM1million

Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael D Jeyakumar is seriously considering taking the federal government to court for withholding the annual grant for constituency development.

He said he has appointed a lawyer to study the matter and has given himself two months to decide whether or not to proceed with the suit.

“We want to make sure the case is watertight,” he said when contacted today.

“The federal government has no right to withhold the money. This is the people's money, not Barisan Nasional's money. Who is using the money? Where is the accountability and transparency to ensure the money is well spent for the benefit of the people?”

Each parliamentary constituency is allocated RM1 million as an annual grant for development projects.

Jeyakumar - the sole MP from Parti Sosialis Malaysia - said that, to the best of his knowledge, opposition MPs have not received the allocation.

Two demands

If he proceeds with filing legal action, Jeyakumar indicated that he would seek two declarations from the court:

• that it should be left to the MP to choose the projects; and

• that the allocation should be disbursed in a transparent manner so that there is no abuse of the process.

He reiterated that he is merely fighting for the rights of opposition MPs who now face unequal treatment compared to their BN counterparts

“The grant is not for me, it is for the people. Let us be transparent as to where it is allocated,” he said.

Jeyakumar caused a major upset in the 2008 general election when he defeated MIC president S Samy Vellu, who had held the Sungai Siput seat since 1974.

courtesy of Malaysiakini