Mubarak wants allowance hike for ex elected reps

The Malaysian Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) wants the federal government to consider raising the allowance of former Parliamentarians and Senators following the salary and allowance hike for all Members of Parliament to RM16,000 monthly.

Its president Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman said an allowance hike would provide a positive impact to the former elected representatives who could still contribute to society and country.

"They are among the group that has contributed tremendously to the nation while still in service, so there is no reason why they are receiving an allowance of below RM3,000.

"In fact currently there are some former elected representatives who only receive an allowance of RM1,200 and worst still there are some who are not getting any allowance due to their period of service that disqualified them from receiving it," he told reporters after the 14th Penang Mubarak annual meeting here today.

The event was officiated by Penang UMNO Liaison Committee deputy chairman Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, who is also Kepala Batas Member of Parliament.

At present there are 820 former elected representatives nationwide.

Abdul Aziz said elected representatives who served after a period of three year were eligible for an allowance of half of the pension while those serving for more than five years were eligible to receive a full pension.

"The federal government needs to seriously look into the matter because it is quite awkward for a former elected representative to receive a low pension and queue up to receive the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M).

"They are also embarrassed because they are known as 'Yang Berhormat' (YB) and we (Mubarak) also want to safeguard the good name of this institution," he added.