KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional advisory board chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak has denied that he had attempted to foil a government parliamentary motion by deliberately being absent during a bloc voting session at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
The former prime minister, in a Facebook posting today, described the claim by an opposition member of Parliament as an attempt to mislead the people.
"He said the rejection of (the parliamentary motion) to extend (the enforcement of the maximum-28 day detention without trial) under Sosma (Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2021) does not amount to PH (Pakatan Harapan) breaching the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) inked with the government.
"Therefore, he accused me of trying to foil the MoU since I was absent during the bloc voting session (during yesterday's Dewan Rakyat sitting).
"I was at the court the entire day.. as if he did not know about it," Najib said in the posting.
Najib was in court on Wed to attend proceedings over his four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds and 21 charges of money-laundering involving the same amount.
Although he did not identify the PH leader who made the claim, Najib's postinging was accompanied by a screen grab of a report which quoted Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil, published by news portal, titled "Usul kerajaan lulus jika Najib, Zahid hadir semalam - Fahmi" (The government's parliamentary motion would have passed in Dewan Rakyat if Najib and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were present yesterday - Fahmi).
In the same posting, Najib went on to say that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang were also absent during yesterday's sitting.
"Those who were absent yesterday included the Bersatu president (Muhyiddin) and Pas president (Abdul Hadi).
"Were they also attempting to foil the MoU so that GE15 (15th General Election) could be called soon?," Najib asked.
For the record, it was reported four days ago that Abdul Hadi tested positive for Covid-19.