Perak Bersatu rubbishes Nazri's 'Umno members bought' claim
Perak Bersatu has rubbished former Umno supreme council member Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz's claims that the party had offered payments for some Umno members to leave and form Bersatu branches in the state.
When contacted, Perak Bersatu secretary Zainol Fadzi Paharuddin said the allegation by Nazri was ludicrous...
UPDATED 2.30PM | I hope after this he will not make such wild remarks. We deny all claims, says Zainol Fadzi.
Perak Bersatu has rubbished former Umno supreme council member Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz's claims that the party had offered payments for some Umno members to leave and form Bersatu branches in the state.
When contacted, Perak Bersatu secretary Zainol Fadzi Paharuddin said the allegation by Nazri was ludicrous.
"That's a ludicrous claim, we from Perak Bersatu deny the matter.
"To my knowledge, we have never made any such offer to Umno members (for them to set up Bersatu branches in Perak).
"I was shocked because I just found out," he told Malaysiakini.
Previously, Nazri accused Bersatu of offering up to RM20,000 for Umno members to set up the party's branches in Perak.
The Padang Rengas MP claimed the offer was made as Bersatu is currently facing a shortage of grassroots level members.
Nazri further said Bersatu's membership shortage is a contributing factor to Umno's refusal to cooperate with them for the next general election.
Padang Rengas Umno, under Nazri's leadership at its annual general meeting yesterday, proposed to reject any cooperation with Bersatu in GE15.
Nazri said Umno will further discuss its ties with Bersatu at a supreme council meeting this Wednesday (Jan 6).
'Police report may be lodged'
Meanwhile, Zainol said he hoped Nazri would stop making such wild allegations in public.
"I hope after this he will not make such openly wild remarks.
"Most importantly, we deny all the claims," he said.
Zainol said Padang Rengas Bersatu will also be lodging a police report against Nazri's remarks.
"Perak Bersatu, I am not so sure. But I was informed that Padang Rengas Bersatu will lodge a report soon," he said.
Asked whether Perak Bersatu will request a face-to-face meeting with Nazri to seek an explanation, Zainol said there was no need to do so.
"There is no need to meet or seek additional explanation over such a ludicrous matter," he added.
On Jan 2, Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki claimed that Bersatu is actively "stealing" and "buying" Umno members to bolster its own ranks.
Following that, Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan demanded an apology from Asyraf and mooted legal action to be taken based on the claims made.
Joining the fray, PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasir said Umno should report any claims of bribery to the MACC, even without any threat of legal action from Bersatu.
He said a report over the latest claims could also prompt investigations into past allegations against Bersatu, including a leaked voice-recording scandal linked to party president and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
