No silence please, minister should come out with strong rebuttal, says Johor PKR chief

JOHOR BARU: The minister accused of being in a sex video that has gone viral should come out with a strong rebuttal and not keep quiet, especially in the wake of a confession by his purported partner.

Johor PKR chief Hassan Abdul Karim (pic) said that as a lawyer “my advice is for the minister to come out to clear his name as this is a serious matter”.

“I personally do not believe this story, as to me this is serious character assassination against a top PKR leader.

“However, we cannot treat this as a simple matter and continue to keep quiet and think that it is going to go away,” he said.

Hassan, who is Pasir Gudang MP, added that he has known the minister for more than 20 years and thought of him as a person with good moral values.

“This whole episode has been shocking. More so when the 'partner' comes out to make a sworn declaration,” he said, adding that keeping quiet was no longer an option.

He added that it was important for the leadership to act swiftly as the video clips had already gone viral online.

“If nothing is done to contain or explain this, it will hurt Pakatan Harapan and PKR,” he warned.

Hassan added that the minister should lodge a police report and even take legal action against those involved in trying to bring him down.

Asked whether this could be the work of those within the party to bring down a rising star, he said he did not believe those in the party would stoop so low.

“We can have differences of opinions but not doing such a thing. I believe all this is done by those outside the party,” he said.

Asked for his reaction if the allegations turned out to be true, he said it would be a sad thing and that it would warrant disciplinary action.