Anwar: I don’t use crude language

PKR leader denies that he is the voice behind audio clips criticising Azmin

KLANG: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim denies that he is the voice behind several short audio clips lashing out at Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

“I don’t use crude language. I’m fierce, but barua (lackey) is not my language.

“Don’t be cheated by slander,” he told reporters after a ceramah, held for the Sungai Kandis byelection.

Asked if Umno could be behind the clips, the PKR leader said he did not know, dismissing it as an act of sabotage ahead of the PKR polls.

“I don’t know. Certainly it’s part of the impending party election.

“This is very unhealthy; they should fight in the open,” added Anwar, who will contest the president’s post.

He said he had not given any reaction to the announcement by the Prime Minister’s Office of the newlyelected Khazanah Nasional Bhd board, as he was undergoing surgery in Turkey.

Asked if the audio clips could be a ploy to cause a split in PKR, Anwar said party members “are not gullible”.

Earlier yesterday, three audio clips, each lasting less than 10 seconds, were circulated through WhatsApp.

The recordings featured the voice of a man, similar to Anwar’s, denouncing Azmin as a barua to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The recordings also criticised Dr Mahathir’s decision to appoint himself as Khazanah chairman and also dredged up the 1990s Bank Negara forex scandal.

In another clip, the man is heard saying that he told Rafizi Ramli to take on Azmin for the post of PKR deputy president as the latter was a stooge of Dr Mahathir.

Anwar’s wife, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, also denied that the voice was Anwar’s.

The same denial was also issued by Azmin.

Lembah Pantai MP and PKR communications chief Fahmi Fadzil said there were differences in the way the man spoke compared to Anwar.

“This is intended to create a rift among party members. We are dealing with many things as we approach the party polls,” he said in a statement.