Parliament deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar revealed today that he was once approached by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to cross over to the party.

According to The Borneo Post , the Santubong parliamentarian said a few PKR members approached him in Kuching several days after the federal cabinet was announced in March.

However, the politician disappointed the opposition party by expressing his loyalty to Barisan Nasional.

“I also told them that I did not believe that other Barisan MPs would be willing to cross over to PKR to form the federal government with a simple majority.

parliament house leak leakage 050508 wan junaidi “Why should 30 or so MPs cross over to the PKR just for the sake of forming a government with a slim majority?

“The BN has already formed a strong government though eight seats short of a two-third majority,” he was quoted as saying.

The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) supreme council member said the coalition’s failure to secure a two-third majority in Parliament following the results of the March 8 general election should not be considered as a drawback.

According to him, the two-third majority was only useful when enacting and amending constitutional laws as other laws could still be passed even with simple majority.

Umno must resolve problems

Pakatan Rakyat, a loose coalition comprising PKR, DAP and PAS currently controls five states - Penang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

In the March 8 polls, Pakatan won 82 parliamentary seats against the BN's 140 seats, denying the latter of a two-third majority.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has been claiming that scores of BN parliamentarians will crossover to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition soon to form the new government.

However, his statements remains unsubstantiated as no cross over has been reported. Many Sabah MPs have also pledged loyalty to Barisan.

Wan Junaidi was also asked to comment on former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation from Umno to which he said the issue was best left for the party to deal with.

He expressed fears that such development might affect foreign investments into the country because he reckoned that Mahathir is no ordinary person.

“Umno is a major component in the federal BN. Should there be anything unusual affecting it, it will have an impact on the political and economic stability of the country,” he said.

Umno has been rattled by events since the March 8 elections which saw members calling for Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s resignation.

His most vocal critic came in the form of his predecessor Mahathir who recently quit the party and urged other members to follow suit.

The seasoned politician has also openly called for Barisan MPs to ‘hop out’ of the coalition and force Abdullah to step down.