KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 26): Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali said the state will still give out the RM200,000 annual allocation to the 12 Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblymen who have turned down the offer yesterday.

This is because the state is "fair" to every constituency and each state will get RM700,000 as annual allocation for people-friendly programmes next year as planned, Azmin told reporters at the state assembly lobby today.

He explained that all state seats, whether it was occupied by a BN or Pakatan Rakyat (PR) assemblyman, had got similar allocations in the past.

The difference was that BN seat allocations were given to state-appointed coordinators instead of the assemblymen themselves, while the PR assemblymen managed their allocations themselves.

“In the past, they [BN assemblymen] were given nothing. The funds were [wholly] managed by the state-appointed coordinators (penyelaras DUN).

"Now, we are changing the scheme. We will give them RM200,000 [out of the entirety] while the remaining amount [of RM500,000] will be managed by state-appointed coordinators. They should be grateful," he said.

However, Azmin declined to say what he would do if the BN assemblymen insist on rejecting the proposal.

"I will only disclose the alternative during my Budget wrap-up speech, " he added.

On tabling Selangor’s Budget 2015 at the state assembly sitting Monday, Azmin Ali has proposed to allocate RM200,000 annually to all opposition representatives in the state.

This comes together with a proposal to raise the annual allocation to RM700,000 from RM600,000 for all PR representatives and for state-appointed Parliament coordinators to get RM100,000 per year.

The money is for the elected representatives for organising Program Mesra Rakyat (people-friendly programmes).

However, 12 BN assemblymen – all from Umno - turned down the proposal yesterday, saying that it was a humiliation to them as the state's proposed allocation for BN representatives differs from that for Pakatan representatives.