FOR ONCE NAJIB IS RIGHT – ‘STEADY AZMIN. THE WAR DRUMS HAVE SOUNDED. THE ONLY ONES CHEERING COULD BE BERSATU’: EX-PM JOINS GAY SEX SCANDAL FRAY – EVEN AS MAHATHIR MOUTHPIECE SYED SADDIQ RUSHES TO CLAIM YOUTHS IN THE COUNTRY ‘DISGUSTED’ WITH THE PROLONGED SCANDAL – WHEN THE FACT IS MALAYSIANS ARE MORE DISGUSTED AT DR M’S LACK OF TRANSPARENCY IN HANDLING THE PROBE

KUALA LUMPUR – Barisan Nasional adviser Datuk Seri Najib Razak mercilessly mocked the public hostilities that broke out between PKR’s top two leaders yesterday and invited the public to guess which will come out on top.

After PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali told Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to “look in the mirror” for suggesting the former resign over a sex scandal, Najib wrote on Facebook to point out that both politicians were the same.

However, he appeared to favour Azmin and offered words of encouragement to the minister.

“Min, steady, Min. The war drums have been sounded. Who will win is unclear. The only ones cheering could be Bersatu,” he said.

Najib also posted a photograph of a face mirror, in reference to Azmin’s retort for Anwar to self-reflect before telling him to relinquish his government position.

Yesterday, Azmin responded angrily to Anwar’s suggestion that the former resign over an ongoing sex video scandal by hinting at similar incidents from the latter’s past.

Previously, the economic affairs minister also called PKR information chief Datuk Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin a “hypocrite” for urging the former to take a leave of absence pending the resolution of the scandal.

The open exchanges have brought to fore the undercurrent of hostilities between the two main PKR factions that had previously been kept in check and away from public view.

Speculation that the sex scandal is part of PKR’s internal intrigues has grown with the police’s arrest of several party leaders on suspicion of distributing the clips allegedly featuring Azmin.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that he considered the real crime in the scandal to be the conspiracy to “bring down Azmin.”

Syed Saddiq: Sex video scandal ‘stealing’ nation’s time, productivity

KUALA LUMPUR – Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman expressed young Malaysians’ “disgust” with the prolonged sex video scandal encompassing PKR members, saying attention spent on the episode could be put to better use.

He urged the nation’s youth to turn away from the escalating scandal and political gossip, saying they should redirect their focus to their personal work and contributions to the country’s progress.

“Our time that is ‘stolen’ by the sex scandal and cheap politics is time that we ‘owe’ to building a progressive Malaysia.

“The youth are disgusted,” he wrote on Twitter.

The sex video scandal allegedly implicating PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali caused factionalism in the party to openly erupt after president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim suggested the former should quit as economic affairs minister if the videos were genuine.

Azmin reacted angrily by telling Anwar to “look in the mirror” while 23 PKR central committee members and four of the party’s federal lawmakers issued a joint statement to publicly rebuke their party president for failing to defend his own deputy.

Police investigations into the sex videos are progressing and the law enforcement agency reportedly secured a four-day remand order for Anwar’s political secretary, Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, who was among those detained for allegedly distributing the pornographic videos.

Azmin’s accuser, former PKR Youth leader Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz, has also been remanded for investigations centred on Section 377A of the Penal Code for unnatural sex.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that he considered the real crime in the scandal to be the conspiracy to “bring down Azmin.”

– Malay Mail