Azwanddin: I am not an agent

Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) president and former PKR man Azwanddin Hamzah denies that he was arranging crossovers, but says he often met disgruntled Pakatan Rakyat leaders

PETALING JAYA: Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) president Azwanddin  Hamzah has denied being an agent for Barisan Nasional tasked with  enticing Pakatan Rakyat MPs to jump ship.

However, the former PKR youth leader said that he may be the person  shown in the video exposed by Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad(PAS).

Azwanddin burst into laughter when asked to respond to Khalid’s  accusation that he was the ‘lead negotiator’ shown a video purportedly showing an attempt to buy over a PKR MP.

“I do not deny that I may be the person in the video. But before anything else, I want Khalid to reveal to everyone the conversation he  had with me and former PKR member and Kita member Zamil [Ibrahim] at   a restaurant in Kajang where he complained about PAS and PKR. Tell us all what you told me to tell BN,” Azwanddin told FMT.

Azwanddin alleged that the meeting with Khalid happened “a few months  back”. He alleged that Khalid had complained about his suspenion from  PAS in 2010 January for calling Selangor PAS commissioner Hasan  Ali to resign. Hasan has since been sacked from PAS.

“I met him then as a friend so I would not reveal more as I’m not a back stabbing type. However, I admit he never mentioned that he wanted to jump ship.”

“Yes, I still meet with a lot of Pakatan friends, but without all the alleged offerings and negotiations. As far as I know, even when there was interest in crossover BN was not even interested.
BN does not want  those who want money but are not principled. I won’t tell which BN    leader I spoke to but they(BN leaders) have told me that if there are those who want to join BN with the intention of getting money, then forget it,” said Azwanddin.

However, he denied ever being a “BN agent”.

“Who am I to offer them anything. I am nothing. Maybe I treated them to a meal, perhaps. That’s all. But I know that Zamil has said before  that if they wanted a little bit of money we can give, but that’s   him,” he said.

Azwanddin criticised Khalid for not revealing who the other individuals in the video was, and urged the PAS leader to reveal who was the purported PKR MP that was behind the video ‘entrapment’.

“Who are these representatives of this MP? Were they really  representatives or is this just a video of my chatting with my friends? Why is Khalid being so secretive?”

Asked again if he had been involved in any negotiations with Pakatan  Rakyat leaders, Azwanddin said:” No… no, I have never been in any  situation where there were trading of offers.

“If anything. They were the ones who ask me: Is it true BN wants to buy people? We talk, and chat, and they complain about their problems to me. But no such thing as offers,” he said.

Azwanddin joined PKR in 1998 and had been the party’s Federal Territories youth exco and national youth exco before quitting in 2008 and formed JMM.

Contacted later, Khalid also laughed out loud at Azwanddin’s denial  and counter-accusation.

“That’s their tactic. They think that by threatening me and making up  stories about me, that I will back down? I have nothing to hide. I  haven’t met them in Kajang. I think the record will show that during my suspension I was very active in attacking Umno. In fact, my  suspension increased my popularity then.”

“They can carry on making those allegations. They have only got their   words. I have the video.”

Asked if he even knew Zamil and Azwanddin, Khalid said:” Unfortunately, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting them before.  Even if I did, it was in passing when Ezam [Mohd Nor] was still in  PKR. But if I did, they are not very memorable characters. And having   dinner in Kajang? That’s far fetched.”

Khalid said that Azwanddin had not denied that he was in the video and  that the Prime Minister’s name was mentioned. “So their story is that  they are both certified counselors talking to disgruntled politicians?
They are just digging their own graves a lot deeper.”

Yesterday, Khalid alleged that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak may have  been linked to alleged attempts by “BN agents” to buy over Pakatan
Rakyat MPs.

For the past two weeks, the Shah Alam MP had shown parts of a full  video clip showing two “BN agents” attempting to strike a deal with a   couple, said to be representatives of a PKR MP.
Khalid claimed that this was part of the attempt to buy at least 15 opposition MPs, mainly from PKR.

Khalid claimed that one of the two agents was allegedly Zamil, while  the other was allegedly Azwanddin.

It was claimed that the agents offered RM2 million to the MP to jump  ship and also offered government contracts as an additional  inducement.

Zamil was heard mentioning the name “Zahrain” in the conversation but  it was not known if he was referring to Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Hashim.

Zahrain has denied allegations of being bought. “Wangsa Maju” was also mentioned in the video, though it was also not known if it referred to its MP Wee Choo Keong.

The full clip was said to be part of a three-hour-long video and was  shot in 2010 at a restaurant in the Klang Valley.