PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said the fact that law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said stated that the claim could not be verified proved that the allegation was “defamatory” and “a lie”.

In December 2022, Malaysiakini reported that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had implied that PN’s funds for its election campaign partly came from gaming companies, particularly those that were allowed to offer additional “special draws” in the weekly numbers lottery. The claim was later asserted by deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Muhyiddin said PN will consider taking action against Anwar and Zahid for the remarks.

“We will first demand an apology as this is a serious accusation and slander,” he told reporters at the sessions court here today.

He said PN would then await a response from the pair before deciding on the next course of action.

In a written parliamentary reply yesterday, Azalina said the allegation that PN received funds from gaming companies to fund its election campaign could not be confirmed.

She said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had conducted an inquiry and found the information to be “very general and no parties were able to confirm it”.

“Therefore, no investigation papers were opened,” she said.