No audience with king this morning, Anwar rubbishes claims as fake news

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim dismissed claims that he had an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah this morning.

“Disregard this because it is fake news. I was here (in Parliament) this morning,” he told reporters when met at the sidelines of the Dewan Rakyat session.

Responding to another question, the Port Dickson MP said he has not attempted to seek an audience with the king.

“The last I had an audience with the Agong was three weeks ago (Oct 16). But that was a normal audience. It was not a secret.

“These (claims) are an attempt by those with no strength to cause friction. When a person lacks strength, the person resorts to lies and slander,” he added, without mentioning names.

The claim of Anwar being granted an audience with the Agong comes in the wake of mounting pressure on Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to hasten the transition of power plan following Pakatan Harapan's colossal defeat in last Saturday's Tanjung Piai by-election.

On Monday night, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali held a meeting with more than 20 Umno lawmakers, which fuelled rumour mills of a possible realignment of political forces.

Despite repeated assurances from Mahathir and Anwar that their succession plan would proceed as agreed, speculation has been rife that the prime minister preferred Azmin to replace him.

Anwar's request for audience denied, separate message claims

Meanwhile, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil denied a message citing him as confirming Anwar had an audience with the Agong at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

"At around 10.30am, I was alerted by the media that there is a message being shared of me supposedly confirming Anwar is at Istana Negara.

"I would like to confirm that I did not send out any such message.

"This is a dirty tactic. I will be lodging a police report because my name has been misused by irresponsible parties to create a false situation with a political motive," the Lembah Pantai MP told reporters in Parliament.

Aside from the message quoting Fahmi, the media also received another message quoting Istana Negara sources as claiming that the Agong rejected Anwar's request for an audience. - Mkini