Wan Fayhsal claims PM sent rep to present draft on funding to Hamzah

The war of words over claims that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim gave opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin a draft agreement on constituency funds has taken another twist, with a Bersatu leader alleging it was done through a representative.

Party youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said in an exchange with PKR MP Mohammed Taufiq Johari that the act was carried out surreptitiously after Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof denied the existence of the draft agreement yesterday.

“What you don’t know is that Anwar had already sent his representative to hand over the document to the opposition leader.

“PMX doesn’t tell you everything. So neither you nor the deputy prime minister would know. It’s not fake news,” he said in a post on X responding to Taufiq, who had criticised the opposition for issuing statements while negotiations were still ongoing.

“Before any agreement or detailed discussion has taken place, (the opposition) has started spreading false stories,” said Taufiq, who went on to criticise Perikatan Nasional as being synonymous with fake news.

No submission

Yesterday Fadillah said there is no such draft agreement on the allocation demands of opposition lawmakers with the government as PN leaders claimed.

Fadillah said no draft document was submitted or received during his meeting with Hamzah in Parliament on March 19.

“I emphasise once again that during my meeting with opposition representatives last week, no documents were provided by the Madani government or the opposition.

“It was merely a session to hear their requests and offers, and there was no discussion regarding any ‘agreement’,” the government’s chief whip said.

He also urged Bersatu’s Hulu Terengganu MP Rosol Wahid, who mentioned the draft, to request it from the opposition leader.

“Let’s see if that draft (agreement) exists or not,” he said.

Recently, Hamzah, who is also the Larut MP, said the opposition had received a draft document detailing matters related to negotiations on allocations for opposition MPs.

Government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil also denied Hamzah’s statement regarding the matter and confirmed that Fadillah’s meeting with the opposition leader was only to hear their views.

The communications minister said the government had discussed the meeting and will take follow-up actions, including discussions at the Madani government leadership council meeting to be held later.

“For now, we haven’t obtained anything substantive from the opposition, so we need to go back to the drawing board.

“If opposition MPs feel that these discussions are somewhat delayed, don’t blame the government, they should ask the opposition leader why it’s delayed,” he added.

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