KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Another PKR MP has alleged that he was enticed by a Perikatan Nasional (PN) representative to change his allegiance to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Padang Serai MP M. Karupaiya claimed he was offered a large amount of money on Sunday from a man, who identified himself as “Azhar”.
“I am not sure if it was even his real name. He called me around 5pm on Sunday and identified himself to me as Azhar,” he told Malaysiakini.
“The man told me that Bersatu wanted to make an offer to me to support Muhyiddin Yassin. And when I asked him why I would do that, he spoke about how my constituency has no funding and this has left the people there in difficult situations.”
“However, I told him that it had not been a problem for me. Because I am always in a good relationship with the people in my constituency,” he reportedly added.
The PKR lawmaker said that the man insisted to offer him full funding for his constituency, and another RM1 million for his own use.
“The guy said that what I needed to do was only to meet Tan Sri [Muhyiddin] to sign [a document]. I told him that I do not want anything, and I am loyal to my party.
“And I told him he can ‘send my regards’ to Tan Sri Muhyiddin,” Karupaiya said.
Karupaiya said that despite having to decline the offer, he is afraid that the people who attempted to entice him might resort to more harmful methods.
He added that he immediately informed PKR leadership about the phone call.
“Because I am scared that as I have rejected the offer, they might try another thing tomorrow. Now, anything can happen.
“Who knows? These people might plant a bag [of money] in my car or in my house, and then they get me arrested to blackmail me? This is possible,” he reportedly said.
He then said that he would rather be poor rather than being called a “frog”, referring to those who hop between parties.
“The voters in my constituency have said that they respect me for not being a frog.
“In life, no matter how many millions [of ringgit] that people can give you, this one word, hormat, that would make you happy,” he reportedly said, using the Malay word for” respect”.
Another PKR MP Awang Husaini, was also quoted claiming he was approached approximately 10 times via phone calls from different “agents”.
The Putatan MP said he also received lucrative offers to change his support towards PN.
“I have received many calls. Probably around 10... I’m sure it was more than five.
“They were from different people. It was like when one didn’t succeed, another took up the task. They asked to meet with me, saying that they wanted to discuss the invitation for me to join PN and that there were some offers.
“But I declined to meet them,” Awang Husaini reportedly said.
Two days ago, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that several PKR MPs, including Sekijang incumbent Natrah Ismail, claimed to be on the receiving end of offers and threats aimed at gaining her support for PN.
He also named MPs from Padang Serai and Putatan as also being on the list.
On March 13, Kuala Langat MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar quit the Opposition party, of which he was also its vice-president, and pledged support for the prime minister as an independent.
Dr Xavier was the latest senior figure to announce his departure from PKR, after last month’s exit of Julau MP Larry Sng and Tebrau MP Steven Choong. Both also declared themselves independents in support of Muhyiddin.
