Drawing on nearly three decades of relations between their families, Azmin declared that there is no basis for the allegations that he is not on good terms with either Wan Azizah or Nurul Izzah.
In this second part of an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, the PKR vice-president suspects that there is a "specific agenda" to pit him against mother and daughter to strain the strong ties among them.
Azmin (right) said Nurul Izzah herself had clarified with him that her recent statement, apparently backing his deputy presidential rival Zaid Ibrahim, warning party members of national leaders acting like "wolves in sheepskin", was taken out of context.Online news portal FreeMalaysiaToday (FMT) ran a story quoting her as saying that the "wolf" analogy was not aimed at Zaid as she was supposed to be "extremely anti-Azmin".
"Who owns FMT? I don't know who owns FMT, but you have to be fair to Nurul Izzah. She had issued a rebuttal statement against the article, but it was not reported," he said, referring to the near year-old news portal alleged to be co-owned by Zaid.
Nothing to prove
Azmin, a founding member of PKR who had served Anwar as an officer for 13 years before the latter was jailed in 1998 on corruption charges, stressed that the members can see for themselves how the allegations ring hollow.
"They have seen it. I have served Anwar when he was in government for 13 years, and when he went to jail I looked after his family. I had to work very hard to prepare for the wedding of Nurul Izzah... I was the master planner of the wedding."That's my commitment and loyalty to the family, and I don't see any reason why I should entertain any allegations levelled against me and Dr Wan Azizah.
"I don't have to pledge loyalty to the president because I've been serving her for the past 10 years," he said.
More than meets the eye
Azmin also swatted aside the perception that he is an Anwar 'yes-man', saying it is his "responsibility" to uphold not "Anwar for Anwar", but rather the former deputy premier's ideals, principles and vision.
"I won't be apologetic... (Being a yes-man) is just a perception, but if you look at discussions in the supreme council and political bureau, I am among those who are very keras (hard-hitting) on some issues.
"My principle is that I will argue or give my views that may differ from Anwar or the president at a meeting, but outside I will defend the decision of the party. This is party discipline and it is important.
"If this (discipline) is not upheld, I am worried... there are some leaders who don't come for meetings but become spokesperson for the party outside of the meeting.
"I cannot accept this. You may disagree with me, but I would like the leaders to have the courage to discuss and debate within the party circle, then we have to make a decision based on consensus," he said.
Azmin (left, with Anwar Ibrahim and Syed Husin Ali in photo) noted that notwithstanding his close ties with Anwar, there is no compulsion for him to seek the de-facto leader's blessings in going for the party's number two seat."The issue of blessings from the ketua umum (de-facto chief) does not arise, what is important is blessings from party members.
"That is why I want to convince them, based on my work record over a decade. They will decide, not the ketua umum or president... they (Anwar and Wan Azizah) are the symbols of Refomasi and that cannot be erased from history, but we must also respect the views of the grassroots."
No comments:
Post a Comment