Shamsul: No agenda in appointing Haziq as my aide

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin (pic) says there is no agenda behind the appointment of Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz – who is implicated in a sex clip with a federal minister – as his senior private secretary.

The Deputy Primary Industries Minister said that he rejects any form of dirty politics to damage the reputation of individuals or the party leadership.

"I would like to stress that all his allegations were shocking to me and completely unexpected.

"I hope all parties will stop making baseless allegations that I had a certain agenda when appointing Haziq – so please stop doing so," he said in a statement on Monday (June 17).

Haziq is being investigated under four charges, among which are Section 377B of the Penal Code for carnal intercourse against the order of nature and Section 292 for distributing obscene materials.

Haziq had admitted that he is one of the people in the sex video and claimed that the other person was Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

Azmin has categorically denied the allegation, saying it was made to tarnish his reputation and destroy his political career.

Shamsul said he had to issue the clarification after receiving flak on social media.

Shamsul explained that Haziq had applied to work for the ministry after his previous senior private secretary stepped down.

"Haziq has a long history with PKR. I was made to understand that his early political career began about 19 years ago.

"I only got to know Haziq around 2012 when he was the founder and president of Universiti Malaya Keadilan, a student chapter of our party," added Shamsul.

"After interviewing him and taking into consideration his academic qualifications, administrative experience and the need for representation from Sabah and Sarawak in the Ministry, Haziq was the one most suited for the job," he added.