Poser over Bersatu leader reportedly seen at PMO

WHO is the top Bersatu leader reportedly spotted in PMO (Prime Minister Office in Putrajaya) recently?

An online news portal, quoting Bersatu insiders, reported that the politician was trying to broker a deal for his political survival.

Intrigued to find out who the top Bersatu leader was, I asked a political insider.

"Bersatu insiders are split - some say Azmin or Peja," he replied, referring to Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, fondly known as Peja, and Bersatu supreme council member Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

I called one of the suspects to check the veracity of the information.

"Some people are saying it's me, Azmin kononnya (supposedly), we were seen in PMO," said Ahmad Faizal.

The Bersatu deputy president told me that he last saw Anwar on Nomination Day for the 15th General Election (GE15) in November last year.

Ahmad Faizal was the incumbent Tambun MP, and the challenger was Pakatan Harapan chairman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Sounding frustrated, Ahmad Faizal said he had explained in meetings with Perak Perikatan Nasional and the Bersatu supreme council that he was not the top Bersatu leader at PMO.

"We (he and Azmin) have sumpah (sworn) that we have not met Anwar. For a Muslim to sumpah, it is a huge thing. When you were growing up and you say 'sumpah', your parents would tell you don't main-main (play) with sumpah," he said.

"But the rumour persists."

Ahmad Faizal also said he was accused of being close to Datuk Farhash Wafa Salvador, a former political aide of Anwar.

"As I remember, the last time I met and talked to him was in Istana Negara when all the MPs were summoned to have an audience with Tuanku (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) to be interviewed about who we wanted to be prime minister," said the politician who was at that time Tambun MP, referring to the political crisis in 2021.

“I was still Perak mentri besar then. How long was that? People say I am close to Farash and go out with him every night. And that is how I channel all the information from my party to Farhash and then to PMO."

He added: "Clearly, why would I do that? And even if I want to see Anwar quietly, why would I go to PMO as everybody knows me there - the police, the security guards from the outside, officers, even kakak-kakak (women) who make coffee?

"If I wanted to meet Anwar quietly, I wouldn't do such a thing (in public)," he said.

It is not only Ahmad Faizal or Azmin who are the usual suspects. Fingers are also pointed at Bersatu secretary-general and Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin. Hamzah told the press that he had never met Anwar at PMO to discuss potential positions.

"That is fitnah (slander). I had never met Anwar since he became the prime minister," the Perikatan secretary-general and Larut MP said.

"We only crossed paths in Parliament sometimes."

Hamzah said that in a recent Bersatu Supreme Council meeting, leaders who were accused of meeting Anwar even said 'Wallahi' (swear in the name of Allah) to deny such claims.

Is there a fire within the PMO smoke?

A Perikatan grassroots leader told me to go to social media to watch who was accusing whom.

"It is Bersatu cybertroopers who are linked to a certain leader in the party," he said.

"The fitnah is part of a 'Game of Thrones' in Bersatu."

The Perikatan source explained that there were two factions in his party. One is with the president (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin), and the other is with a party leader who gives the optics that he is in charge of the party and Perikatan.

"Party leaders like Peja, Azmin and Bersatu information chief Datuk Razali Idris are stumbling blocks to this leader's ambitions to take over Bersatu. That is why they are attacked," he said.

"It is actually that leader who met Farhash and is working for PMX (10th Prime Minister)."

On how the leaked story happened, the source said a son of a Bersatu MP went to PMO "for whatever reason" and saw the man there.

"That's how the story blew up," he said.

The root of the rumour, which became news - technically fake news - is that there's a civil war in Bersatu.

Who will win?

I'm told the Bersatu president has control of the party's grassroots and the Supreme Council. Muhyiddin will take back his party.

There’s fresh talk on why a top Bersatu leader was missing at the Gerakan Chinese New Year open house, and there’s photographic evidence that he was absent.