An Umno minister and deputy minister today denied that they were among four ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) parliamentarians who are purportedly defecting to opposition PKR soon.

Youth and Sports Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Deputy Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Saifuddin Abdullah were named by a blog as being among the four.

However, the duo denied this when met by reporters at the Parliament lobby.

ismail sabri yaakobIsmail Sabri - who is also Bera MP - said the person operating the abovementioned blog, Greenboc, "has got nothing better to do."

"I am a cabinet minister and I’m in a comfortable position, why would I want to move?" he asked, describing the allegation as "insane."

On a sarcastic note, Ismail said he was certain that the names of other ministers will also be dragged in.

Haven't met Anwar in 10 years

Meanwhile, Saifuddin also denied that he has any intention of leaving Umno.

"I would like to reiterate that I have not met (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim for almost 10 years," said the Temerloh MP.

saifuddin abdullah"I could not have been in contact with him and I hope that my voters know this," he added.

Responding to a question, Saifuddin said he will not take action against the blogger and described such speculations as normal in politics.

Anwar has claimed that the latest sodomy allegation against him was an attempt to frustrate his plan to contest in a by-election. One of the 31 PKR MPs was supposed to have stepped down this week to pave the way for him to contest and return to Parliament after a 10-year hiatus.

He also claimed that it was related to his plan to announce the names of the four BN MPs who were to jump ship.

He has yet to reveal the identities of the four. On the other hand, the government has denied that there is any political conspiracy in the latest scandal.

Anwar has been making numerous efforts to get at least 30 BN parliamentarians to defect to Pakatan Rakyat in order for the opposition alliance to assume control of the federal government.

Meanwhile, PKR vice-president Azmin Ali claimed that the four BN MPs are still standing by their decision to defect despite the latest developments.

However, he said the party will decide on its next course of action at a meeting slated for tonight.