HAZIQ Abdullah Abdul Aziz, who is now synonymous with a sex tape scandal involving a top politician, had a reputation as a fearless student activist, fighting for the rights of undergraduates, said his close friends.
The Sarawak native, once president of the Independent Undergraduate Activists Grouping (KAMI), had his first taste of student activism when he took part in a demonstration calling for the abolishment of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans in 2012.
The anti-PTPTN protest led to the suspension of several organisers, including Haziq, then a law student at Universiti Malaya (UM). Haziq was suspended for a semester.
“The Haziq I knew had high ambitions to become a politician. He had confidence and a goal. He had been an activist in student movements since 2011,” said fellow student activist Adam Adli.
“Haziq had a strong vision to be a politician, unlike me, who is still unsure about it,” said Adam.
A source who declined to be named said Haziq had always been close with Hilman Idham, the Gombak Setia assemblyman and political secretary to Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.
Azmin is purportedly the man caught in the sex acts with Haziq in the video clip.
“Hilman was the first to notice Haziq’s leadership skills, so he recruited him and that’s when he became really active in student movements. They are close,” the source said.
A check by The Malaysian Insight found several online videos on YouTubefeaturing Haziq giving speeches on free tertiary education, human rights and the freedom of the media during what appears to be rallies and student gatherings.
Fahmi Zainol, former president of the Universiti Malaya Student Union (PMUM), said Haziq was never one to mince his words.
“I was in UM, in the same intake as him. The Haziq I knew was bold about giving his views. He was very straightforward and had big political ambitions. He had many ideas,” said Fahmi.
“Compared to other student activists, he was the most advanced. He was the private secretary to a deputy minister. The rest of us were just regular aides to MPs, unlike him,” he said.
Another source said Haziq was also deeply involved in the run-up to the 2014 PKR elections and a staunch Azmin supporter as deputy president.
“He was a strong supporter of Azmin in the newly formed Keadilan Youth Movement (AMK). He helped to campaign and was involved in several related events during the election. He was once the MC during an event which discussed the policy speech by Azmin at the end of 2013,” said the source.
Another close friend of Haziq, Habib Mazlan, said for a period of time, Haziq temporarily left the PKR political scene.
“He participated in an exchange student programme to the United States for six months in the (2014/2015 term). He also joined the Perdana fellowship and in 2017, he assisted Barisan Nasional minister Nancy Shukri to campaign for the 2018 elections,” said Habib.
However, after Pakatan Harapan won the 14th general election, Haziq appeared to return to PKR to stand for election for the chief of the AMK in Santubong.
“He campaigned and joined Najwan Halimi’s camp and stated a strong support for Najwan as AMK chief. In Sarawak, Haziq was also rooting for Shamsul Iskandar as vice-president,” said a source from the Najwan camp.
Najwan is the assemblyman for Kota Anggerik and Selangor AMK chief.
After the elections, Shamsul, who is also deputy primary industries minister, appointed Haziq as his private secretary.
“I was made to understand that he (Haziq) never joined the party which Nancy was in. He was involved with a Perdana fellow and worked with the former minister,” Shamsul said earlier this week.
“I think the Perdana fellowship was a way to give room to young people like him to realise their potential. There is no problem with that” he said shortly before announcing Haziq’s suspension from his duties as an aide.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com
The author forgot to mentìon that haziq is also close to nancy.
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