BACKDOOR DEFECTIONS - BERSATU NAMES ANOTHER "OPERATOR" BEHIND THE "SEDUCTION" OF ITS MPs - WELCOMES DENIAL FROM FARHASH - BUT 'LET THE POLICE INVESTIGATE'

 

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - As more reform and watchdog groups come out to rebuke embattled Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, his opposition rivals have named another "operator" that they claim was also involved in the massive and complex scam to lure Members of Parliament into switching allegiance in exchange for federal money.

According to Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, the Bersatu youth chief, his party's MP for Labuan Suhaili Abdul Rahman was the "traitor" who actively tried to "seduce" colleagues into switching allegiance in exchange for federal funding.

Fayhsal had the day before named two operators - a businessman 'Datuk Botak' and Anwar's own former political aide Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak. There has been no response yet from 'Datuk Botak' while Farhash has denied the accusation and threatened to sue Fayhsal for slander.

"It was good he (Farhash) denied that," the Star reported Fayhsal as saying.

"Let the police investigate the claim." 

SUHAILI THE 'TRAITOR'

Anwar (left), Farhash (right)

Meanwhile, Fayhsal turned his sights on Suhaili, the second of the four Bersatu MPs who have effectively 'defected' but cunningly refused to resign from Bersatu, so as not to trigger the Anti-Hopping Law which requires lawmakers who quit their parties to also vacate their seats.

"Suhaili accused me of concocting this fiction about ‘Datuk Botak’. No, it’s real. In fact, he is also involved,” said Fayshal, who is also the Machang MP.

“I tell you how it happened: we were in a meeting, and he (Suhailli) with confidence, called our MPs, one by one. He didn’t realize that the Opposition leader (Hamzah Zainuddin) was present. When the phone was passed on to the leader, he was surprised. He must have thought he was talking to the MPs alone. He never gave up since he declared support for the prime minister. It’s a blatant approach by him."

Apart from Suhaili, the other three 'defectors' are Iskandar Dzulkarnian (Kuala Kangsar MP), Mohd Azizi (Gua Musang MP) and Zahari Kechik (Jeli MP).

IF MONEY CAN BE USED TO BUY MPs, WHAT NEED IS THERE FOR ELECTIONS

The backdoor moves to poach opposition MPs have shocked and outraged Malaysians. Civil society, democracy and law groups have ticked off Anwar while the opposition has been quick to cry foul, accusing the Madani government of money politics and political bribery.

Even the well-respected Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) has rapped Anwar for using federal funds as a 'weapon' and 'bargaining chip' to get support.

"The crux of the problem today is twofold: the inefficacy of the existing anti-hopping law (AHL) and the weaponization of constituency development funds as a bargaining chip," Bersih said in a statement. 

"The Madani Government led by Anwar ought to do better than previous governments who withheld CDF allocation from opposition and independent MPs."

The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) has also rebuked Anwar, calling for an end to money politics.

"The guarantee for receiving federal funding for their constituencies as the primary reason for shifting coalitions brings to the forefront the issue of money being used as a political tool.

"Currently, the federal government has complete autonomy to make arbitrary choices over which constituencies receive funding or not at all,” the anti-corruption watchdog said in a statement today.

"As a result, the coalition leaders of successive ruling governments will be able to solidify their position on the promises of constituency funding alone.

“This could result in MPs preemptively forming political alliances with the ruling coalition post-election, (in hopes) that they will receive federal funding for their constituency," the anti-corruption watchdog added.

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

Politics Now!