I am not a political frog

KUALA LUMPUR: Member of Parliament for Santubong Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar dismissed rumours that he is going to cross over to the opposition, declaring that he is not a political frog and would not want to be remembered as one.

Speaking to The Mole yesterday, Wan Junaidi who is from the Sarawak-based Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) party said: “I am not going to be a party hopper.”

“Even if I were to quit politics, I am not going to be remembered as a “political frog”. I do not want to have that kind of reputation,” he added.

Wan Junaidi’s remarks came following speculations that Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is trying to get support from leaders of PBB, a Barisan Nasional component party.

Free Malaysia Today quoted political sources had revealed that Sarawak will see some defections before the 13th general election.

Among the names bandied for the defection included Wan Junaidi and Petra Jaya MP Fadhillah Yusuf.

The report also stated that the visit by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday was to convince the 14 MPs from PBB to remain with BN.

The issue was also picked up by Malaysia Today and Malaysians Must Know The Truth.

Commenting on this Wan Junaidi said: “My name has been mentioned and accused of joining the other side since 2008.”

“If I am that type of person who will do that (crossover), it would have happened by then. But nothing (of such) ever happened.”

Wan Junaidi also claimed that he was not aware of the defection rumours until a minister informed about it yesterday. 

In 2008 Anwar had announced that he had the numbers to form a new government on Sept 16 through the defections of MPs.

The plan did not fall through and Anwar had reportedly said that this was due to the failure to get a vote of no-confidence against then Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“So we had a problem because the understanding with the MPs, particularly those in Sabah and Sarawak, was that they could only do it in Parliament, in one go, because otherwise, the harassment and intimidation would be unbearable for them,” Anwar had then said.

There are 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak of which 14 are PBB's.

Speculations of more party-hoppings were triggered following resignations of Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin and Upko’s Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, both from Sabah BN, to become PKR-friendly MPs.

Source: MOLE