KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi has told Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to "self-reflect" before making allegations that four of its members of parliament (MPs) who expressed support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim were threatened and bribed.
Puad, who took to Facebook to say his piece, said that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman should reconsider who once used threats and inducements to get support from the opposition.
"Muhyiddin claims that four Bersatu members of parliament who have declared support for PMX (Anwar) were threatened and bribed.
"Muhyiddin should look in the mirror. Who (used to) use threats and bribery?
"All the Umno members of parliament who left the party in 2018 and joined Bersatu in 2019 became ministers," he said, adding that they had "all obtained positions".
Referencing this, Puad went on to list 'Tok Pa' or Dato' Sri Mustapa bin Mohamed (who served as a cabinet minister under Muhyiddin's government after the collapse of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government under then Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob), Dr Latiff (Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad), (Datuk Seri) Ikmal Hisham (Abdul Aziz), (Datuk) Mas Ermieyati (Samsudin), (Datuk Seri) Hamzah Zainudin, Dr Nor Azmi (Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali) and (Datuk) Shabudin Yahaya.
"Umno leaders such as Najib, Ku Nan, Zahid, Shahril Samad and Azeez Rahim, on the other hand, faced dozens of accusations. They didn't run away.
"Ask Tok Pa and Hamzah. Why did they run away? (Because they're) afraid of being charged," he continued.
"Even in matters of allocations, they can run away. All of this is because they lack a true identity."
On Wednesday, two more Bersatu MPs made a surprising announcement by declaring full support for Anwar.
It began with support declared by Kuala Kangsar MP, Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid, followed by Labuan MP, Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman.
On Nov 7, Gua Musang MP, Datuk Mohd Azizi Abu Naim, pledged his support for the unity government, before Jeli MP, Zahari Kechik, doing the same.
Following this, Iskandar Dzulkarnain and Dr Suhaili were suspended from Bersatu for four and six years, respectively, while the punishment for Azizi and Zahari will be determined by the Bersatu disciplinary board, which is scheduled to convene soon.
Late last night, Muhyiddin, who is also PN chairman, said that his party would file reports with the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as he claimed that there were elements of intimidation and corruption from the said MPs expressing support for Anwar in order to secure positions in his government.