The Selangor Umno assemblypersons’ refusal of RM200,000 state allocations shows that the party is too afraid of democratisation, said DAP assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin.

The assemblyperson for Damansara Utama said that the first step to “building a healthier democracy” is to give state allocations to the opposition representatives.

“We would like to remind Selangor Umno that such allocations are not for personal use, but for the rakyat in their constituencies.

“By rejecting the allocations, they are depriving the people in their constituencies of the state benefits,” she said in a statement today.

Menteri Besar Azmin Ali announced last month that the Selangor government is allocating RM200,000 for each of the 12 BN assemblypersons in the state for next year’s budget.

Opposition leader Shamsudin Lias was also allocated a Toyota Camry for official use.

Shamsudin said the BN representatives, however, deemed the allocation insulting and have rejected it, as it is less than the RM700,000 allocated to Pakatan Rakyat representatives.

Despite BN representatives refusing it, Azmin said his government will still continue to give the RM200,000 to each of the assemblypersons.

He explained that the BN reps will also get an additional RM500,000 from the state coordinator of each constituency.

Yeo said that she hopes “the people from the constituencies the opposition members represent will not be deprived of state benefits because of the choices they made during the general election”.

She added that in the spirit of democracy, the state government will continue to give allocations even if BN continues not to do so in Parliament and state assemblies.

“We urge Selangor Umno to accept the RM200,000 and use the money responsibly to serve the Selangorians in their constituencies,” she stressed.