KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition lawmaker Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan alleged to have been provided with insufficient time to furnish evidence on his claims that two turncoat Bersatu MPs had sought his backing of the government.
As such, the Tasek Gelugor MP said he will provide details on his allegations to the Parliament’s privileges committee tasked with looking into his comments, which were made in the Dewan Rakyat on March 21.
Wan Saiful said that around 3.30pm yesterday, he received three letters from Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, two of which were copies of separate motions filed by Tg Karang MP Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi and Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim.
“The third letter was from (Johari) himself. Overall, all three letters requested that I furnish evidence (on claims that Zulkafperi and Azizi had sought his support for the government) by 12pm today,” the Bersatu Supreme Council member said in a Facebook post.
“This morning, I responded to the letters to state that I am ready to provide any information I have to the committee, since the committee will be investigating the issue I raised.
“I also explained that the ‘deadline’ given to me was too tight, as it was set at less than 24 hours from the time I received the letter.”
Previously, Zulkafperi and Azizi had submitted separate motions to refer Wan Saiful to the parliamentary Committee of Privileges, alleging that Wan Saiful had misled the lower House by claiming that they were involved in efforts to persuade opposition MPs to support the government.
This came after Wan Saiful urged the Dewan to establish a committee to investigate the two MPs whom he claimed were government “agents” attempting to persuade other Perikatan Nasional MPs to switch their support.
Wan Saiful claimed that Azizi introduced him to two individuals known as “Hasnan” and “Datuk Azman” on January 17, while Zulkafperi introduced him to a person named “Datuk Rahim”.
He alleged that these individuals offered parliamentary allocations, project allocations totaling RM2 million, coverage of his wife’s medical expenses, legal fees for allocations in court, unspecified “tokens” of value, and the withdrawal of the court case.
Zulkafperi and Azizi are two out of six other Bersatu MPs who have declared their support for Anwar’s administration. The party’s Selat Klang assemblyman, Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari, has also pledged his allegiance to Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari’s leadership. – March 26, 2024