SHAH ALAM: The series of lewd videos implicating Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali has given rise to various speculation, including one that linked him to the position of the nation’s next prime minister.When asked about this yesterday, Azmin said he did not want to speculate that the purported sabotage was due to this.
Azmin, who spoke to reporters at the Selangor government-linked companies’ joint open house celebrations here, said his current focus was on the nation’s economy.
However, Azmin said it was up to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to decide who will lead the nation after he steps down.
“I don’t want to speculate. That is the prerogative of the prime minister to decide who is best and fit to succeed.
“What is important is that he must be accepted by the majority of the people and leadership,” he said.
To a question as to who could have been behind the alleged plot to discredit him with the bawdy videos, Azmin said he did not want to make any accusations.
Azmin also said that he knew Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz only “in passing”.
“He’s a party member, then he joined the Opposition and when we won, he jumped back into Keadilan.
“That is the character of the individual used in this slander,” said Azmin.
The Gombak MP and Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman said people should not resort to cruel and filthy acts of political sabotage.
“As a new government we must uphold value-based politics and clear principles,” Azmin told reporters.
He was responding to a question about allegations that the videos were an act of sabotage from within PKR.
Azmin said regardless of what the issue was, people should not resort to gutter politics.
He said individuals who had differences of opinion or found themselves unable to effectively serve the people should not resort to a dirty and repulsive act such as this.
Azmin also said that he was in tandem with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s stand on the matter.
Dr Mahathir had stated that the videos were “cooked up” by someone with a political agenda.
“Things like these are dirty. If you cannot compete with someone don’t do something like this,” Dr Mahathir said, adding that politics should be kept clean.
Azmin said Dr Mahathir’s statement should be taken seriously by everyone, especially party leaders.
Meanwhile, Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari, who was also at the open house, said history had proven over the last 20 years that the Malaysian public rejected gutter politics.
“So, the conspirators behind this please be prepared to repent as history shows that the public does not buy such tactics to assassinate a person’s political career,’’ said Amirudin.To a question if PKR should be careful in accepting people into its fold to avoid taking in saboteurs, Amirudin said generally there was good justification as to why certain people were absorbed into the party.
“But this is a good lesson for us and we have to be careful with whom we take in,’’ he said.
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