KUALA LUMPUR: Labuan member of parliament (MP) Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman has rebuffed calls to relinquish his parliamentary seat despite declaring allegiance to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Asserting that he garnered the mandate from Labuan residents in the last General Election (GE15).
"I contested the seat on a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ticket.
"But it must be remembered that it was not the PN leadership that chose me but the people of Labuan," he told FMT.
Defending his alignment with the government, he stated: "I back the government because I need allocations.
"Is it a crime to seek these allocations to help the people in Labuan?"
Bersatu information chief Senator Datuk Razali Idris earlier today, challenged the four Bersatu MPs supporting Anwar to resign and run as independents in by-elections, questioning their continued support after allegedly betraying voters and Bersatu grassroots.
Suhaili is among the four PN MPs who have pledged support for Anwar in pursuit of securing allocations for their constituencies.
Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid initiated this move on Oct 12, followed by Suhaili on Oct 30.
Despite facing disciplinary measures, two more MPs, Zahari Kechik (Jeli) and Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), joined them in the past week.