KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat descended into chaos today.
This time, after an opposition member of parliament (MP) claimed to have been threatened to express support for the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan (PN-Tasek Gelugor) claimed that he was contacted via phone by numerous individuals for the purpose.
"After winning the Tasek Gelugor seat in the 15th General Election, I faced Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigations and was charged in court.
"Although parliament is not the right place to voice this, I just wanted to share that I did not expect this to happen to me.
"I would like to take this opportunity to share that I was not only asked, but threatened to support the prime minister.
"To the point, I agreed to meet them," he said when debating the Royal Address today.
Wan Saiful said the first meeting was on Jan 17 at the Westin Hotel in Bukit Bintang.
"The next meeting was at the JW Marriot Hotel. One of the individuals who had approached me was a friend, but I will not name the person," he said.
He alleged to have been offered a reward in return for expressing his support for Anwar, including an allocation of RM1.7 million for his constituency.
He also claimed the effort continues with the latest being on Monday (Feb 26) for a meeting at Corus Hotel in Jalan Ampang.
Wan Saiful said he had no choice but to entertain the meet-ups as "They have the power and something unexpected beyond control might happen".
Wan Saiful's revelation sparked an uproar among the government MPs, including RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong).
Rayer urged Wan Saiful to lodge a report with the MACC.
"I have all the records and don't try me or I'll reveal them one by one," replied Wan Saiful.
He claimed that the individuals who approached him did not use their real names.
"They used names like Rahim, Arman and Hasnan. (And) when they talked to one another (during the meet-ups), they even addressed each other with different names, maybe they forgot the (fake) names they were using."