KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is not defending Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali over a viral sex video which allegedly implicated the Economic Affairs Minister.
He also said that that dirty politics is not going to trap him into being part of it.
“I’m not defending him (Mohamed Azmin). I’m just saying that dirty kinds of politics like that will not trap me into being part of it.
“Obviously, somebody is trying to make use of me to achieve their purpose. This is not a usual video that you see before; this is purposely created in order to achieve certain nasty objectives to prevent somebody from making progress in politics.
“This was planned and I’m not going to be an agent for making the plan a success,” he told reporters after launching the National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2019-2023 at Sasana Kijang, Bank Negara, here.
Dr Mahathir was asked if he was defending Mohamed Azmin. In a post on his chedet.cc blog earlier today, he had written, among other things, that the sex video clip implicating a minister was not a moral issue but a political problem.
The prime minister said he is not willing to be used in the issue and that the video was made and circulated for political purposes with the main reason to block the political career of an individual.
Asked whether the mastermind behind the circulation of the video should be brought to court, Dr Mahathir said they should be punished.
“If we can find and identify who actually produced this particular video and showed them on the Net, I think they should be punished. This is not the kind of politics we want,” he said.
Meanwhile, PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he believes the latest statement of Dr Mahathir on the video controversy is aimed at easing the political tension that has ensued.
Saifuddin Nasution said the Pakatan Harapan government has more important duties and responsibilities to attend to.
“I believe the intention is to revert the focus to the real task at hand, on why we were elected by the people,” he told a press conference after opening the national conference of the Companies Commission of Malaysia at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre.
–NNN-BERNAMA