Kelantan Bersatu has expressed its astonishment at Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim’s actions in declaring his support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Its chairperson, Kamarudin Md Nor, said Azizi had informed them during a party meeting last Saturday that he was offered inducements to back the prime minister but he rejected them.

“This statement indeed came from the Gua Musang MP. It was very surprising to me. Last Saturday, on Nov 4, we had a state-level Bersatu meeting.

“He also attended and informed us that a political broker had offered a substantial sum of money, among other benefits, in exchange for making a statement in support of the prime minister.

“He said he had rejected all of these offers. We even congratulated him for his rejection. So, it was very shocking when we learned about the statement on his Facebook,” Kamarudin said when contacted today.

Bersatu Kelantan chairperson Kamarudin Md Nor

Kelantan Bersatu information chief Bahari Mohamad Nor who also attended the meeting confirmed the matter with Malaysiakini.

“Yes, I was present at that meeting and we congratulated him for adhering to the principle of not switching allegiance.

“So, when he made the contrary announcement, it definitely surprised us.

“Therefore, the state Bersatu will hold a meeting to discuss this matter and we will leave it to the central leadership to take the appropriate action,” the Gual Ipoh assemblyperson said.

Incommunicado

Malaysiakini attempted to contact Azizi but was unsuccessful because his phone was turned off.

Kamarudin also mentioned that he tried to contact Azizi following the announcement but failed.

The same goes for his wife and driver.

“So, for the time being, we leave it to the central leadership to take the necessary action,” the Ayer Lanas assemblyperson added.

In his announcement last night, Azizi, who is also the Nenggiri representative, stated that he supports government initiatives that prioritise the welfare of the citizens leading up to the next general election.

This came after similar declarations of support by Labuan MP Suhaili Abdul Rahman and Kuala Kangsar MP Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid.

Previously, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin claimed that there were threats made to his parliamentarians to support the government and was in the process of gathering evidence.

The MACC, which was alleged to have made the threats, denied it.