IPOH, MALAYSIA: Five Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen have claimed they have been approached by agents to cross over to Barisan Nasional.

They are State Assembly Speaker and Tronoh assemblyman V. Sivakumar, Sungkai assemblyman A. Sivanesan, Hutan Melintang assemblyman S. Kesavan, Malim Nawar assemblyman Keshvinder Singh and Buntong assemblyman A. Subramaniam.

Except for Sivakumar, the others claimed they were contacted in recent days.

Sivakumar said he was offered RM60mil ($25 mil) to cross over last year before his appointment as Speaker.

Sivanesan said he was initially approached before he was sworn in last year, and on Tuesday he received a call to persuade him to cross over.

He said the caller said: "Tunggu apa lagi? Kerajaan dah lari sana. Kalau abang setuju, saya datang sekarang juga bawa abang duduk seminggu." (What are you waiting for? The Government has changed. If you agree to cross over, I will take you into hiding for a week.)

Sivanesan said he was first approached last year by a man called Amir, and a meeting was arranged after he informed the party leadership.

He said he met Amir, accompanied by two others, at a fast-food outlet in Bidor, and was offered RM5mil and a seat on the state executive council.

He claimed Amir contacted him after he was sworn in and doubled the offer.

Keshwinder Singh said he was offered RM10mil plus the position of the Perak MIC chief and a place on the state executive council about a week ago.

"A man who said he was acting on behalf of an Umno leader came to my office in Kampar with the proposition," he said.

All five assemblymen were present at the High Court as a show of support for Sivakumar who has filed a suit seeking to uphold the resignation of Changkat Jering, Behrang and Jelapang state assemblymen, thus getting the seats to be declared vacant.-The Star/ANN