By Mohd Farhan Darwis
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — PAS MP Khalid Samad today rubbished denials from former Kedah PKR Youth chief Zamil Ibrahim and stood firmly by his claim that the latter was an “Umno agent” who tried to bribe a PKR lawmaker to cross over to Barisan Nasional (BN).
The Shah Alam MP today stressed the Zamil’s denial yesterday was “ridiculous and did not make sense”.
“If he (Zamil) is not an agent, why did he say there were PKR MPs who met with him? What power does he have?” Khalid (picture) asked today when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.
“How is he able to afford to offer money to PKR MPs if he is not an Umno-BN agent? From the discussion in the video amount of RM2 million, that is not a small amount,” he added.
On Thursday, PR leaders had alleged that one of its MPs was offered up to RM2 million to defect to BN and had named Zamil as one of the agents employed by BN to broker the deal.
They had released a five-minute video of a purported meeting between the lawmaker’s representatives and the BN agents, which they said was recorded in a Klang Valley restaurant “around the time others left PKR”.
None of the five seen in the video could clearly be identified, with the faces of the PR MP’s two representatives blurred out.
Zamil yesterday admitted that he was “most likely” one of the men in the video released, but denied ever working as an agent for Umno or BN to court PR representatives.
Zamil, however, said it was his “ambition” and “intention” to topple PKR by whatever means, “just like it is Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s dream to take over Putrajaya”.
“But I do not work with BN, I am neither a BN agent nor a member of Umno. I vehemently deny that and demand Khalid Samad retract his accusation.
“But to use my service to destroy PKR, I feel it is a noble cause, there is pride in that... it would even be my religious duty to destroy a party that I feel is lost,” he said.
Zamil, however, would neither confirm nor deny if the five-minute video released was one of him offering money to PR’s MPs to leave the pact.
“But I do not deny that I have met with many, many PR MPs and state assemblymen, especially from PKR, in the past.
“The man in the video, it is most likely me but I cannot be absolutely certain. It could be a friend of mine. But the back of the head does look like mine... the video, however, does not show the stomach,” he said.
In response, Khalid said: “From his statement it is clear Zamil has revealed the modus operandi used.”
“I will expose more evidence of video recording. There is another representative who will be exposed, and the more clearly, then we will see them argue.”
Zamil left PKR for Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) due to a growing disillusionment with Anwar’s leadership but has since broken ranks with Kita as well in a protracted leadership crisis with party chief Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.
He would not release the details of his meetings with PR representatives but issued a stern warning to those who have met with him, saying: “Do not challenge me. I hold your secrets.”
Zamil pointed out that he may have in his possession similar videos like the one released by PKR yesterday, which he claims would reveal some “dirty secrets” that those who have met with him would likely not prefer released.
“I could release it one by one but I still hold true to my respect for the secrets shared in a friendship. So I want to warn these MPs who are now sitting in Parliament — you know me, I know you.
“So this conceited, ‘kurang ajar’ (uneducated) Saifuddin and Khalid, who is merely a parasite in PAS, be careful,” he warned.
Asked if these “secrets” entailed discussions to cross over to BN, Zamil would neither agree nor disagree.
“But these people, day and night they give ceramahs criticising BN leaders. But what Anwar does not know is that behind his back, they would kiss the hands of the same BN leaders they criticise.
“So to those who have met with me or my friends before — please be careful. I want to advise them if they are loyal, loyal to Anwar and to PR and to PKR, they would not have met with me. They would not have held negotiations, discussions or question things,” he pointed out.
He said Saifuddin, whom he used to be a close associate of, only knows 30 per cent of his personal details.
“They call me a burger seller but do they know I owned over 50 burger stalls? That my siblings are millionaires in their own right? That my family has assets across the world, such as in Australia, Germany, India, Malaysia and even a hotel in Saudi Arabia?” he claimed.
Although the PR lawmakers refused to say exactly when or where the recording was made or which MP was involved, they said that a shortlist of about 10 MPs had been approached to leave the opposition pact.