One of the 10 PKR members of Parliament rumoured to jump ship to join BN and Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) yesterday denied the claims.

NONE “(The rumours) are all lies,” said Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Mohamed Hashim ( left ).

However, Zahrain - who has been rumoured to be the most likely to defect of the 10 named MPs - declined to comment further.

“I don’t want to entertain these matters anymore,” he said, when asked about speculation about his position in PKR, following his dispute with Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng.

Other MPs named are Zulkifli Noordin (Kulim-Bandar Baharu), Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal), Rashid Din (Merbok), Wee Choo Keong (Wangsa Maju), Loh Gwo-Burne (Kelana Jaya), Azan Ismail (Indera Mahkota) and Yusmadi Yusoff (Balik Pulau).

Parti supremo Anwar Ibrahim had on Sunday denied the rumours about Yusmadi. Wee, however, was unavailable for comment.

Two-thirds majority

In the apparently unlikely event that the rumours are true, BN stands to regain its two-thirds majority in Parliament. It is short of that mark by eight seats at the moment.

Word of the ‘group defection’ hit the political grapevine courtesy of controversial writer Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Jan 31.

NONE While not mentioning names, Raja Petra ( right ) claimed that two of MPs were Chinese with one of them allegedly owing money to loan sharks and another allegedly keeping a mistress at Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Kuala Lumpur.

Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo-Burne, however, said that to his knowledge, that there are no Chinese MPs who fit Raja Petra’s description.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” he told Malaysiakini .

Nevertheless, Loh defended the actions of Zulkifli, Zahrain and Tan, whose vocal criticisms of the party are perceived by certain quarters as a thorn in PKR’s side.

‘ Flooded with queries’

Zahrain and Zulkifli Noordin have both been called in by the party disciplinary committee for clashes with prominent Pakatan leaders, Lim Guan Eng and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad respectively.

Quoting philosopher Sun Tzu, Loh said: “People who are loyal are people who criticise their leaders openly.”

Meanwhile, Rashid Din said that he has been flooded with queries about the matter ever since he first caught a whiff of the rumour a few days ago.

“I don’t know head or tail (of this story). The rumours of our (jumping ship) came out so unexpectedly,” he said.

Rashid added that he has never had intentions of ‘betraying’ his party nor had he received offers to join other parties. “I was, am, and will always be with PKR.”