Malaysia: 4 more PKR lawmakers asked to defect, says Anwar

• FOUR more PKR lawmakers have been approached to jump ship and switch allegiance to Perikatan Nasional (PN), PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said on 16 Mar 21.
• The opposition MPs were enticed by monetary remunerations to join PN and when that failed, they are being victimised with intimidation tactics, the opposition leader told a press conference on 16 Mar 21.
• He said the four PKR MPs are M. Karupaiya (Padang Serai), S. Kesavan (Sg Siput), Awang Husaini Sahari (Putatan) and Michael Teo Yu Leong (Miri).
• Anwar’s revelation follows that of another PKR lawmaker, Sekijang MP Natrah Ismail, who said she was offered a bribe to shift her political allegiance.
• She has since lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
• Anwar, who is Port Dickson MP, alleged that the MACC, police and the Inland Revenue Board are being used as “weapons” to threaten opposition lawmakers who are not willing to defect.
• This is an abuse of power, he added.
• Following Anwar’s announcement, more opposition lawmakers came forward to denounce attempts to get them to defect.
• PKR’S Awang Husaini Sahari said on 17 Mar 21 that intermediaries approached him at least five times to persuade him to leave PKR for Perikatan Nasional (PN).
• The Putatan MP told The Malaysian Insight the calls started after the “Sheraton Move” in Feb 20, which resulted in PN snatching power from Pakatan Harapan.
• “Unknown agents approached me. I didn’t know who they were. They just approached me and told me they wanted to meet me. When I asked them what it was all about, they said they wanted to invite me to join PN for some rewards,” the PKR lawmaker said.
• “I refused to meet them as I knew the intention was to ask me to cross over to PN. They tried again, and I kept saying that I was not interested, and after that they stopped calling,” he said.
• On the “rewards” that they dangled before him, Awang said the agents did not specify what they were.
• On a related note, Sebatik assemblyman Hassan A Gani Pg Amir dismissed allegations he had been paid as much as MYR10mn to quit Parti Warisan Sabah.
• He said the decision to leave the party and support the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition as an independent was made out of his own free will and in the best interest of his constituents.
• “This allegation is baseless, and I have explained why I quit the party. It does not change the political landscape at all, including having any bearing on the formation of the (state) government. There is no such offer,” he told reporters here on 16 Mar 21.
• On 25 Feb 21, Hassan said he had quit Warisan, saying that he was disillusioned with the party for focusing too much on politicking instead of working on issues faced by the people due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

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