Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad may be prominent in the headlines, but Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has been active since the election too.

On June 7, she announced that the Pakatan Harapan coalition government will be changing the previous Barisan Nasional government policy regarding the distribution of federal funds to the states.

Allocations to individual state governments will be done in a '"fairer" manner, by assessing each state's financial capacity. The federal government informed representatives of the individual states of their decision during a meeting of the National Finance Council.

Said Wan Azizah:

"The Prime Minister said that the federal government must be equitable. Some rich states can accommodate (the expenses) compared to poorer states that should get more allocation."

Fair policy

She added that the PH will adopt a "fair" policy towards states which are led by opposition parties. She explained:

"Even though they are not with the federal government, (allocation) will be channeled, but must (finally reach) the people, regardless of party."

Terengganu's Chief Minister Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who attended the meeting, also confirmed that the federal government will now channel at least five percent of oil royalties directly to the state governments.

"Before this, it was channeled to the federal development agencies in the states. But now Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has pledged to send the money directly to the state governments, which includes Terengganu."

This will be done despite Terengganu's status as an opposition-held state. The Islamist party PAS was elected during GE14.

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Money for opposition MPs

Ahmad Samsuri also thanked the PH government for providing funds for opposition MPs, which was not the practice under the previous Barisan Nasional government.

On top of the RM200,000 (S$67,000) allocated for parliamentary service centres, another RM100,000 (S$33,500) will be allocated to opposition MPs. Said Ahmad Samsuri:

"Even though the amount is lesser, we appreciate the gesture by Pakatan Harapan. The allocation for (opposition MPs) is something better than before when there was zero allocation."

Top image from Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's Facebook page.