UPDATED KUALA LUMPUR: Two former PKR MPs Zahrain Mohamed Hashim and Zulkifli Noordin are to follow Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to the United States for the launching of the Malaysia-US caucus.
Although Minister in the PM's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz downplayed the issue, the revelation has fuelled rumours that the trip could be somewhat of a reward for the duo.
According to Nazri, he had made the decision for the two independent MPs to accompany Najib.
The Barisan Nasional deputy chief whip explained that he picked the independents as opposed to BN reps so that the ruling coalition would always have enough MPs in the House to beat the opposition when it came to voting on parliamentary bills.
"We must make sure that BN, at every moment, has more lawmakers than the opposition.Because of that I have made the decision to not allow any BN MP to leave the country (when the House is in session),” he told reporters in Parliament.
"I send independents because they do not vote for BN or the opposition. It would not be a problem if I sent 10 independents.
"I don't want to send BN MPs because the majority (in the House) would be reduced. I also do not want to send opposition MPs because I do not want to be accused of trying to decrease their numbers,” he added. For the record, there are seven independent MPs in the House.
Najib will launch the Malaysia-US Caucus next Wednesday in Washington.
'BN MP's now second class'
Earlier, Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) told the Dewan Rakyat that BN MPs were now “second-class” compared to the independents because they could not even accompany the prime minister to US.
"Let me congratulate the two independent MPs who are clearly better than BN MPs. The people in BN should be up in arms because they are not taking part,” he said.
He also said it puzzled him that the opposition was not even consulted on the matter although it accounted for more than a third of the MPs.
"This is not a Malaysia-US congressional caucus, but a BN-US congressional caucus,” he quipped.
“I call on all the US congressmen and senators to ask the prime minister why this is not a valid Malaysia-US congressional caucus but a BN-US caucus.
“This is shameful. This is something which a prime minister for all Malaysians should not do,” he said.
Zahrain had quit PKR in February while Zulkifli was sacked from the party.
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