Three MPs say they were offered cash to defect
(The Malay Mail) – THREE more opposition MPs yesterday claimed they were offered cash to quit PKR and become BN-friendly independents.
Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne, Ketereh MP Ab Aziz Ab Kadir and Tanah Merah MP Amran Ab Ghani admitted getting offers to turn independent, some during the height of the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis.
Their claims followed allegations by PKR Indera Mahkota MP Azan Ismail that he was offered RM5 million to jump ship.
Amran said if he had defected, he would have made RM20 million.
“They were targeting eight MPs a package deal. If all eight crossed, each of us were entitled to RM20 million. Otherwise, the offer would be null and void,” he told a news conference at the state secretariat after the State Assembly sitting, yesterday.
He said he was urged to settle abroad “for two years or so” to cool the anger of his hometown residents.
Ab Aziz and Low said they were part of the group to receive RM5 million each.
Ab Aziz said he was invited for a meeting at a Petaling Jaya restaurant but rejected the offer as he had no intention of shifting.
He claimed he received a call from ex-PKR Zamil Ibrahim whom Pas Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad had earlier named as an ‘agent’ for MPbuying exercises, an allegation Zamil denied.
Loh said several meetings took place, but it was “not easy to compromise our principles”. He admitted that many MPs eventually chose to turn independent.
Khalid, who organised yesterday’s conference, said he had video evidence to back his claims.
The conference also saw two excerpts from a three-hour video purportedly showing agents negotiating an MP’s exit in a Klang Valley restaurant.
Azan had also claimed to have a video recording of agents negotiating his exit from PKR.
Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said he did not believe in the accusations.
“We don’t do such things. It was they who claimed that 30 BN MPs will jump ship to Pakatan. Maybe it was then that money was involved,” he said.
Selangor BN coordinator Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed said that if the claims were true, Pakatan should have lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
