KUALA LUMPUR: "I am still a Perikatan Nasional Member of Parliament," Gua Musang MP Mohd Azizi Abu Naim told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Nov 21).

"To all my esteemed colleagues, I wanted to verify here as it was stated on the screen (live broadcast of the Parliament session) it says PN MP.

"I want to confirm that the statement issued recently was from myself. I was not forced or coerced in any way," he said briefly.

On Nov 7, Mohd Azizi was the third MP who declared support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid and Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman.

The Perikatan Nasional leader from Kelantan said his decision came after he studied and listened to Anwar's Budget 2024 presentation, which aimed to facilitate economic recovery and alleviate the people's financial burdens.

Mohd Azizi was one of the four Bersatu MPs, including Jeli MP Zahari Kechik, who announced support for the unity government.

Bersatu leaders later claimed this resulted from the unity government's strategy of gaining allegiance from opposition party members by offering them allocations.

Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin later announced that Suhaili and Iskandar Dzulkarnain had been suspended from the party for four and six years.