All allocations to assemblypersons, which was previously put on hold pending their explanation as to why they failed to attend the Penang governor’s installation, has been released to the affected constituencies, said state secretary Farizan Darus.

Farizan said one of the assemblypersons, Penanti’s Norlela Ariffin, has apologised to him for saying she did not receive an invitation to attend the installation ceremony which was held on April 29.

“Since she has apologised, in the spirit of Aidilfitri, we accept and have approved her constituency allocations,” he said at a press conference today attended by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow.

Last month, Lim announced that the allocations for several DAP and PKR constituencies will be withheld pending their explanation on why they missed the governor’s installation ceremony.

Norlela and several PKR representatives had opted to attend the party’s convention in Seberang Jaya, which was attended by top party leaders including president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali.

However, Wan Azizah left the function earlier to attend the governor’s event on the island, which started at around 4pm.

Publicised grouses on Facebook

When she was told that her funds were frozen, Norlela publicised her grouses on Facebook, which further irked Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general.

Her grouses led to DAP’s opponents in Gerakan to accuse the state ruling party of “marginalising and bullying” PKR, although this claim was strongly denied.

During the press conference today, Lim said DAP assemblypersons were also subjected to the same action, not just those from PKR.

“We felt the act of not attending the governor’s ceremony was serious, so we decided to freeze their allocations until they explained themselves.

“They should be reminded that the duty of an elected representative involves attending all of the state’s official functions,” he said.

“Once they explained their reasons for not attending the event, and apologised to the governor and the state government, their funds were released,” he added.

“Since Norlela has also apologised, not only to the governor and the state government but also to Farizan as she claimed she did not receive an invitation, the situation is back to normal now,” Lim added.

He said Norlela’s accusation towards Farizan had tarnished the state secretariat’s reputation, but "everything is back to normal".

Asked who were the other assemblypersons from DAP and PKR who did not attend the official ceremony, Lim declined to reveal.

“The others did not take their grouses to Facebook, only Norlela did, and they have all sent a written apology to the governor and the state, so let’s keep their identity confidential."