KUALA LUMPUR: Tenom MP Datuk Raime Unggi (pic) would have followed Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman out of Umno if the latter had defected.

“He is my leader, and I would follow him, even if it meant defecting from Barisan National,” said Raime.

He admitted to being old friends with Anifah, saying he had known Anifah for more than 10 years since becoming an MP in 2004.

On Thursday, Anifah testified that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had in 2008 attempted to entice him to “party-hop” with a sweetener that he would be made deputy prime minister.

Anifah said he was also offered RM100mil by a businessman close to Anwar, Datuk Ishak Ismail, to induce him to get 10 Sabah MPs to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat.

When Anifah’s counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah questioned what Anifah’s reaction to the offer was, Raime said Anifah appeared “angry and insulted”.

Raime added that Anifah called the person “orang Anwar” (Anwar’s man) though Raime could not identify who the person was.

During cross examination, Anwar’s lawyer Razlan Hadri asked Raime if he had personally heard the offer.

Raime replied that he was told by Anifah about the offer, but had no first hand knowledge about it.

Razlan also questioned Raime’s move to amend his witness statement the afternoon before his testimony, though Shafee countered that last-minute amendments were a common occurrence.

On May 27, 2009, Anwar filed the suit against Anifah @ Haniff Amman and the Government over alleged libellous statements made against him abroad.

Anwar claimed the minister had, during a joint-press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2009, linked his name to an alleged offer of a top Malaysian Cabinet post.

The PKR leader claimed the words uttered by Anifah that day implied that he was a dishonest person.

The hearing before High Court Judicial Commissioner Siti Khadijah Badjenid will continue on Dec 15.

-The Star