The ball is now in the MACC s court, said Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail
The PKR secretary-general also said former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador s claims of rampant corruption involving political frogs in the country was not new and should be investigated.
He said Abdul Hamid s revelation only reinforces his and party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim s recent claims that the carrot-and-stick approach was used to entice Opposition MPs to switch allegiance. The carrot is where you offer positions and allocations. The stick is when they send the authorities after you. PKR s stance was made very clear when Anwar met the MACC director-general previously.
However, he said that no agreement or any formal understanding had been made yet.
“I’ve already said it would be premature to indicate any possibility of cooperation or agreement. At this stage, we are just discussing, ” he told a press conference after a meeting with PKR MPs and top party leadership here yesterday.
He was asked to clarify his remarks on the possibility of PKR cooperating with Umno in the next general election following his interview with a Malay daily last week.
Anwar said discussions with any political party, including Umno, must be based on common principles and fundamental values outlined in the Federal Constitution.
[S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]
Days after the vice president of his party quit and announced support for the ruling coalition, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday alleged that five lawmakers had been threatened or offered “enticements” to do the same, ahead of general elections expected this year.
Anwar also said that his party’s talks with Malaysia’s oldest party, UMNO – which has announced it will split from the ruling coalition in the next elections – about joining forces in the polls are at a very preliminary stage.
Anwar said that five MPs from the party he heads, People’s Justice Party (PKR), were approached with offers to switch sides. He listed them as Natrah Ismail, M. Karupaiya, Kesavan Subramaniam, Awang Husairi Sahari and Michael Teo.