“If there were others (doing so) then I wouldn’t know anything. But certainly on that night, there were no orders to that effect,” the former prime minister told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Najib had been asked to comment on Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s claim of attempts to get representatives from his coalition to jump ship, which he alleged had caused the delay in the announcement of PH’s victory.

Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin also said he was unaware of any such order, adding that he had gone to Najib’s house after retaining his seat.

Other BN leaders, including Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Hishammuddin Hussein, were also there.

“If there were any attempts to buy out MPs, orders would have had to come from the top, but there were no such efforts or plans,” the former youth and sports minister said.

He said he was unsure what Mahathir was referring to or where he had obtained such information.

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa, however, did not deny that such incidents took place.

“I think it’s perfectly normal. I’m not denying it, but I don’t have any details,” he said.

In a recent interview with Mekong Review, Mahathir said there were attempts to persuade Malay PH elected representatives to jump ship to Umno and PAS after the announcement of the election results.

He said if PH’s Malay representatives had been persuaded to cross over, Umno and PAS would have had the majority to form the government.

He also said the delay in announcing the election results was due to such behind-the-scenes manoeuvring.