A Barisan Nasional MP confirmed today that Elegant Advisory Sdn Bhd had supplied him posters in the recent general elections "for free".

Johor Baru MP and Umno supreme council member Shahrir Samad disclosed that Elegant Advisory was one of the companies which had supplied posters with the BN logo to him.

"I am sure Elegant Advisory had supplied us posters," said Shahrir who is also chairperson of BN Backbenchers Club.

He said before the elections, an individual who claimed he was from the said company, met him and voluntarily gave him the 'donation'.

Shahrir said no contract was signed and he accepted the posters as donations from supporters. The suppliers' name was not disclosed to him too.

However, he could not recall the name of the person.

Elegant Advisory is at present embroiled in a controversy after being alleged to have not paid the suppliers of BN election material.

In an exclusive report yesterday, malaysiakini disclosed that dozens of firms claimed they have not been paid for supplying BN an estimated RM100 million worth of election paraphernalia.

Serious allegation

Talking to malaysiakini at parliament lobby today, Shahrir reiterated this is a serious allegation and that he will definitely bring it up to the BN's leadership.

"I have to investigate this first. If they (the suppliers) are supposed to be paid, then they have to be paid," said Shahrir

The veteran parliamentarian said that he would contact malaysiakini once he had located the documents which proved receipt of the posters.

However, he added that all of his personal posters were ordered and printed in a factory in Melaka and the bill had been settled by himself.

"All of the general BN posters will be from BN office. The candidate has to be responsible to print his personal posters," Shahrir explained.

Other leaders mum

Meanwhile, leaders of other BN component parties leaders were not that forthcoming when approached on the issue.

MCA Youth chief Ong Tee Kiat said he was not aware of the matter and the MCA central committee had never discussed it.

Several suppliers had earlier told malaysiakini that they had

approached MCA chief Ong Ka Ting for assistance.

Ong also said that he would normally exercise extreme caution in handling electoral expenses and as far as he was concerned, he did not owe any party any money.

Gerakan secretary-general Chia Kwang Chye said that he was not in a position to comment.

MCA leader and Deputy Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Ng Kam Hoong also refused to comment when asked on the matter. So did Umno supreme council members Mohd Nazri Aziz and Hilmi Yahaya.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang urged the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) to investigate the matter.

He said that leaving suppliers unpaid can be perceived as a breach of trust by the government for not fulfilling obligations, and therefore affecting public perception.

"I hope the prime minister will make a parliamentary statement to clarify the matter, as the issue can affect the integrity of the government," Lim said.