'BN will be walloped again for denying Selangor its funds'

Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has warned BN of another crushing defeat in the next general election it it continues to deny the state the funds it is entitled to.

"Since March 2008, Selangor has not received its fair share of direct funding compared with what the state has contributed. The funds are instead channelled through unelected officials in the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU).

"The federal government must realise this is not only a betrayal of Selangorians but it is also detrimental to everyone, including the BN in Selangor, with the rakyat determined to punish BN again in the 14th general election," Khalid (right) said.

Saying this when tabling the state's budget 2014 today, the menteri besar added that 25 percent of the national gross domestic product is contributed by Selangor.

In the last general election, the number of BN-held seats in the state assembly was almost halved, from 20 to 12, giving Pakatan Rakyat a two-thirds majority in the 56-seat house for the first time.

Khalid also hit out at the federal government for its over reliance on the introduction of the goods and services tax to improve its fiscal position.

"BN's budget does not address the root problem when it relies on subsidies and development expenditure cuts while the other components in the operational costs continue to spike," he said.

The federal government was also failing to address leakages and corruption as highlighted in the Auditor-General's Report 2012.

In his budget speech, Khalid also said the state government was studying the upward revision of the remuneration, gratuity and allowances of state assemblypersons, based on the Sarawak state assembly model.

"However, I ask that any revision to be no higher than 75 percent of what Sarawak state assemblypersons are getting," he said.

The monthly allowance of a Sarawak state assemblyperson is RM15,000.