KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim insisted today the salaries for his state government leaders and lawmakers will be raised from next year as announced yesterday even as criticism rolled in from within the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) backbenchers.

Selangor Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairman Azmin Ali urged Khalid to postpone the salary revision of its government leaders, including the legislative assembly speaker, deputy speaker and assemblymen pending a review, arguing the new pay scheme was “too high”.

“I will not withdraw the salary hike. We have already passed it in the assembly,” Khalid was quoted as saying by news portal The Malaysian Insider.

The second-term mentri besar of Malaysia’s wealthiest state said assemblymen from both sides of the political divide had been enthusiastic for the increase and none had raised an objection when the matter was debated in the state lawmaking body.

Khalid reportedly said the salaries were raised to provide sufficient funds for the elected representatives to carry out their duties instead of being preoccupied with looking for extra cash elsewhere.

He also suggested that assemblymen who now disagree with the state’s decision could choose to donate their new-found largesse.

The new pay scheme comes into effect from Janaury 1 next year.

With the revision, the Selangor MB’s monthly salary is set to double from RM14,175 to RM29,250.

Khalid also gave a whopping 231 per cent pay hike to his state executive councillors from RM6,109 to RM20,250, according to a report in The Star daily.

The monthly salaries of Selangor state assemblymen were almost doubled from RM6,000 to RM11,250, two-thirds of whom are from PR.

The legislative assembly speaker’s monthly pay was more than tripled from RM6,109 to RM22,500, while the deputy speaker’s monthly paycheck more than quadrupled from RM3,327 to RM15,750.

PR retained Selangor in Election 2013 with a stronger majority under Khalid’s administration, after the country’s most developed state fell from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) grasp for the first time in the tsunami of the 2008 general election.

Khalid, however, has been criticised by his PKR party’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over his purportedly tight-fisted management of Selangor’s reserves that touched RM2.8 billion in May 2013.