PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has urged the government to immediately implement a short-term plan to mitigate the rise in prices and shortage of certain goods, such as rice.
He said stop-gap measures are necessary because the people are angry over these issues and want the government to take action.
“When I (was the prime minister), when the price of chicken went up, we took immediate action to ensure the prices remained under control, including halting the export of chicken to Singapore and giving many companies approved permits so they could import.
“Similarly, the government should announce short-term measures to tackle the rising prices and shortage of supply of goods.
“I hope the government will take immediate action,” he told reporters after an event here last night.
Ismail also said his administration had given allocations to opposition MPs without holding any talks, although not equal funds, before signing the memorandum of understanding with Pakatan Harapan.
The Bera MP said the same was done by the government of his predecessor, Muhyiddin Yassin.
“After we signed the confidence and supply agreement (with PH), I gave equal funding. Before the CSA, there were allocations, but the opposition MPs received a smaller amount.
“But before the CSA, even without any negotiations, the opposition received RM100,000 to RM200,000 every year. Regardless of who was in power, the opposition would receive allocations automatically.”
However, he said, the quantum was up to the discretion of the prime minister of the day.
Last week, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reiterated that opposition MPs must negotiate with the federal government if they want to receive parliamentary allocations.
The opposition had repeatedly said that negotiations were unnecessary and that equal allocations should be given to them.