Otai Reformasi urges Azmin to 'take a break' pending video probe

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Azmin Ali should take a break from his official duties as the Economic Affairs Minister until investigations into a sex video implicating him and a 27-year-old is complete, says Otai Reformasi chairman Dr Idris Ahmad.

"We are proposing that Azmin to be given a 'break' from his official duties to allow the police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct its investigations into the sex video which involves his image.

"This is to preserve the good name of the Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya," he told reporters during a press conference at Restaurant Amjal in Lembah Pantai on Friday (June 14).

Dr Idris also questioned Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement on the incident in which he said the video could be "cooked up".

He said Dr Mahathir's reaction was very different in 1998, when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as the deputy prime minister and punished over alleged corrupt practices and sodomy.

"In 1998, Anwar was sacked and punished before police investigations commenced. But in 2019, Dr Mahathir's statement is very different.

"We hope Dr Mahathir will not practise double standards and be one-sided in commenting on the video," he added.

PKR was mired in scandal when on Tuesday (June 11), following a sex video purportedly of Azmin and Santubong PKR Youth chief Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz, went viral.

While Haziq made a confession on Facebook that it was him and Azmin in the video, the latter slammed the allegations as a nefarious plot to end his political career.

At the beginning of the event, Dr Idris explained that Otai Reformasi was a non-political movement formed by concerned citizens in 1998 to push for institutional reforms.

But the group, which was set up following Anwar's sacking as deputy prime minister, is known for being pro-Anwar.

It now also comprises members of political parties such as PKR, DAP, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Amanah Negara.