KUCHING, MALAYSIA: Sarawak’s biggest BN component party,Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), claimed Saturday (22 Mar) that the Opposition had made an attempt to win over one of its member of parliament by offering a post of minister or deputy minister.

PBB vice-president Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman said a PBB new face who won in the 8 Mar general election was contacted by telephone last night by an unidentified person with such an offer, Bernama reports.

The caller had told the Muslim MP that many Sarawak BN non-Muslim MPs had agreed to join the Opposition and that they were now looking for more Muslim MPs, he said after attending a procession in conjunction with the Maulidur Rasul (Prophet Muhammad's birthday) celebration in Jalan Matang Jaya here.

He declined to identify the MP, and said he was informed that the caller had used a private line which did not flash the telephone number on the MP's telephone, the report said.

Daud, who is Assistant Minister of Islamic Affairs and Industrial Development in the Chief Minister's Department, said the MP told him he had rejected the offer outright.

The PBB vice-president said all Sarawak BN MPs, including from the PBB, were loyal to their parties and the BN.

Following the general election, there has been speculation that the Opposition was trying to buy over BN MPs to garner enough parliamentary seats to topple the BN federal government, according to the Bernama report.

Meanwhile, Deputy Science, Technology and Environment Minister Fadillah Yusoff, who is MP for Petra Jaya, said he would remain with the PBB and BN.

"We will remain with the BN in good times and bad," the PBB Youth chief said when asked to comment on last night's attempt to buy over the PBB MP by Bernama.

In the general election, Sarawak Barisan Nasional ruling coalition won 30 of the 31 parliamentary seats up for contest in the state. The DAP won one seat. The PBB won all 14 seats contested and is the biggest of the BN component parties in Sarawak.