PM denies meeting Bersatu MPs to get support

PUTRAJAYA: It is untrue that Bersatu MPs were bribed for switching allegiance to the unity government, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar also denied meeting the Bersatu MPs to get their support in parliament.

"They said we bribed them. No, there were none. I did not meet them.

"When they asked for a meeting, I said make a decision first, then and only then can you meet," said Anwar during his winding-up speech at the PKR National Congress in the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) on Sunday (Nov 26).

Anwar said the four Bersatu MPs supported the unity government after seeing the country's good economic growth.

"They saw economic developments, and for allocations, we have never touched the salaries of elected representatives," added Anwar.

Anwar said development allocations still continued, just that they were done differently now, where such funds did not go through MPs.

"We will channel these funds directly to the people themselves.

"Why do we want to transfer these funds to MPs who are insulting and trying to topple us?" questioned Anwar.

Over the recent weeks, four Bersatu MPs had switched allegiances to Anwar, namely Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid, Labuan MP Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman, Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim and Jeli MP Zahari Kechik.

Iskandar and Suhaili said they switched allegiances to Anwar to gain extra allocations for their constituencies.

Zahari and Mohd Azizi also said they supported the unity government to ensure constituency development funds to their respective constituencies.

Bersatu leaders had claimed that agents were enticing MPs to switch allegiances.

However, the four Bersatu MPs who declared support for Anwar denied such allegations and stated they supported the government of their own free will.