THERE was pandemonium in the Dewan Rakyat earlier today when a Bersatu MP alleged that he was approached and threatened several times to support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
When debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address, Tasek Gelugor MP Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan claimed that if he declared support for Anwar, he would be offered RM1.7 mil in allocations, among others.
“The first meeting was on Jan 17, 2024, at the Westin Hotel in Bukit Bintang. Then the next meeting changed to the JW Marriott Hotel,” he said, adding that one of the individuals who had approached him during one encounter was a friend whom he did not want to name.
“I was then approached on the day when the Dewan Rakyat recommenced (Monday, Feb 26). I was approached in the afternoon and they wanted to meet at Corus Hotel on Jalan Ampang. And then, at midnight, they called and wanted to meet at Saujana Subang.
“I had to entertain these meet-ups as I was worried that they had power and they would do something unexpected to me.”
According to Wan Saiful, these attempts to sway his support came after he had claimed trial to 18 counts of money laundering charges involving funds totalling around RM5.59 mil in Oct last year.
“They are very careful in their modus operandi, meeting at secluded spaces in hotel rooms and I believe that the individuals who met me did not use their real names,” he said.
“In all these meet-ups, the main message was that I must support YB Tambun (Anwar) as prime minister, and in return I would be rewarded with an allocation of RM1.7 mil for my constituency, with a part of it designated for the service operation centre,” he said.
Wan Saiful’s claim had sparked an uproar among government MPs, with Jelutong MP RSN Rayer telling him to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if what he claimed was true.
“If you’re a man, make a report to the MACC,” he said.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul then stepped in, saying that Wan Saiful’s claims were seemingly hearsay, and told him to refrain from raising the matter again in the legislative chambers.
“What Tasek Gelugor said about certain individuals who had approached him to support the prime minister are merely negative assumptions. We can’t say for sure whether these individuals really exist or not as they might be pretending to be (unity government) supporters so move forward,” he said.
“We cannot bring these hearsays into the hall. It’s always about what ‘they’ said. You can’t do that,” Johari said, adding that he was unable to verify the validity of the matter.
Johari then instructed Wan Saiful to wrap up his debate so proceedings could continue. – Feb 28, 2024
Main pic credit: Screenshot via Youtube/Parlimen Malaysia
