Dr M accuses govt of bribery over allocations

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says opposition MPs who have declared their support for the government are receiving allocations typically reserved for government MPs.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has accused the unity government of committing bribery in the form of constituency allocations.

In a posting on X, formerly Twitter, Mahathir said the opposition MPs who have declared support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were receiving allocations typically reserved for government MPs.

“The Bersatu MPs also acknowledged receiving other offers. This is considered as corruption because those who do not support the prime minister do not receive them,” he said.

Mahathir’s remarks followed Anwar’s denial on Sunday that he was “buying” the support of opposition MPs. He also said he had never met them before their declaration of support for his administration.

“When they sought to meet me, I told them to make a decision (to support the government) before meeting me,” he said in his closing speech at the PKR national congress.

Five MPs from Bersatu have so far declared their support for Anwar and his unity government.

Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal became the latest to do so in this morning’s Dewan Rakyat session, joining Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang) and Zahari Kechik (Jeli).

They claimed they had done so to secure allocations for their constituencies.

Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal previously claimed that two persons had allegedly enticed opposition MPs into supporting Anwar’s leadership.

Wan Fayhsal said the two – a man dubbed “Datuk Botak” and a former political aide – were shown in a video that had been circulating on Facebook and TikTok.