It looks like embattled opposition party Bersatu has been dealt yet another blow - thanks to its outspoken youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal; with several of its top leaders including its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and its former information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan already facing several court cases, the last thing they must have wanted was for another of their compatriots to join them in the dock!
According to a news report in the Malay Mail, the Perikatan Nasional MP is now being investigated by the police for purported criminal intimidation over the alleged enticement of Bersatu lawmakers to support the unity government.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said investigations against the Bersatu Youth chief had started after a complaint was filed by a former aide to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim; it is believed that the complaint was lodged by former PKR leader Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak against Wan Ahmad Fayhsal.
Earlier this week, Farhash had accused Wan Ahmad Fayhsal of criminally defaming him after the opposition MP had alleged the former political secretary to Anwar of enticing Bersatu MPs to support the Madani government together with another man named as "Datuk Botak”.
Apparently, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal had made insinuations about pro-Anwar figures acting for the government behind the scenes during a press conference in Parliament; however he claimed he did not personally name the former Anwar's aide in his allegations and instead said that he had been reading from a police report made by his party’s Youth wing in the press conference.
For the record, criminal defamation, under Section 499 of the Penal Code is punishable with imprisonment up to two years, or a fine, or both, under Section 500 of the same law.
The Machang MP dubbed a "loose cannon" by some, is known as a vocal politician with a tendency to make controversial statements; this had landed him in hot water on several occasions in the past.
In fact, last week, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal had claimed that his party's Labuan MP Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman, who had pledged allegiance to the unity government, was offered the post of Federal Territories minister, alongside parliamentary incentives as well as various types of perks.
Furthermore, he had claimed recently that 10 more Parti Pribumi Bersatu MPs, including himself, have received "offers” to support the federal government; in a press conference outside of the Dewan Rakyat, he had alleged that Bersatu MPs have been identified by operators who have offered development projects to them in their respective areas.
Incidentally, last June, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal had also rejected the accusation that Perikatan Nasional tends to play up issues related to race, religion and royalty (3R); the Machang MP claimed the 3R accusations levelled at PN were stereotypes and a “stigma” propagated by pro-Pakatan Harapan media outlets!
However, a report released by the Centre for Independent Journalism, in collaboration with Nottingham University Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah, based on its monitoring of social media platforms during the last general election had showed that PAS (the main component party of PN) and its president Abdul Hadi Awang as the main actors contributing to racial narratives.
In fact, it's no secret that the coalition's head honcho Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin himself had been called out several times for “crossing the red line” on the 3R issues.
Perhaps, a recent report published by Focus Malaysia best sums up the young MP and his party Bersatu's current predicament; according to the report the party seemed lacking in knowing how to manage the “shock” after several of its lawmakers decided to swing their support towards PM Anwar's government.
Maybe also, there is some truth after all, in what Umno president and Deputy PM Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had said some two months ago - that Bersatu's actions appear to show that it is now in a state of disarray and may eventually break up?
JK Joseph is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
