Bersih has urged the Sarawak government to shed BN's policy of denying state funding to opposition lawmakers now that they are no longer part of the coalition.

In a statement today, the electoral reforms group pointed out that the Sarawak BN government had previously pledged RM5 million per annum for 72 of its state assemblypersons under the rural transformation programme.

The 10 state constituencies which voted in the opposition, Bersih said, should not be denied these funds.

"Such clear bias by the state government is tantamount to the oppression of voters who have voted in opposition representatives, by punishing them for exercising their constitutional right to vote for candidate and political party freely," said Bersih.

Since coming to power, the Pakatan Harapan administration has pledged to provide RM100,000 annually to each opposition MP for constituency expenses, which is lower than the RM500,000 allocated to those on the government bench.

The RM500,000 allocation has been instituted the past few decades.

Addressing the discrepancy, cabinet minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said last week the federal government could not afford to allocate the same amount to opposition lawmakers until the fiscal situation improves.

Previously, Bersih had urged the governments of Perlis, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu to emulate their peers in other states which have provided funding for opposition representatives.

For instance, the Johor government has pledged to allocate RM50,000 to opposition lawmakers annually - the same sum allocated to backbenchers.