KUALA LUMPUR – Perikatan Nasional (PN) information chief Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has refuted claims of being a “traitor”, as mentioned by some politicians over his involvement in the infamous Sheraton Move.
Instead, the incumbent Gombak MP trained his guns on his former allies in Pakatan Harapan (PH) who prompted the Kajang and Port Dickson moves, saying they were the “real” political “traitors” in the country.
According to The Vibes’ Bahasa Malaysia sister publication Getaran, Azmin said the label was given to him by those who were “bankrupt” of healthy political ideals.
Alluding to PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Azmin said the real traitors are those who plotted to become Selangor menteri besar and prime minister following the political manoeuvring in both Kajang and Port Dickson previously.
“Why don’t we focus on the Kajang move, the Port Dickson move, but choose the Sheraton Move when (both of the earlier moves) are the absolute betrayal to the people’s representatives who are still alive, still serving, and elected in a general election?
“Due to someone’s greed, these representatives (in Kajang and Port Dickson) were forced to resign. Is this not betrayal?” he said during an interview with Astro Awani yesterday evening.
The Kajang move took place in 2014 during the late Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim’s tenure as Selangor menteri besar. At the time, PKR attempted to replace Khalid with Anwar who ran for the Kajang state assembly seat that was vacated for this purpose.
However, Anwar was disqualified from the Kajang election due to a court case involving his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan. The PKR leader was replaced by his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The Port Dickson move occurred shortly after the 14th general election in 2018, following Anwar’s release from prison at the behest of the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V, who granted him a royal pardon on his second sodomy conviction.
Azmin stressed that during the Sheraton Move, no one was pressured to resign to make way for any other leader, and claimed that it was done to consolidate Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership.
“We wanted to consolidate the position of Tun (Dr Mahathir) so that he could receive strong support in implementing policies in the Dewan Rakyat, in the government, but due to infighting and power struggles within Pakatan Harapan itself, Tun had resigned,” Azmin said.
Azmin, who is also a member of Bersatu’s supreme council, said he and PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin could not be blamed for the latter’s ascension as prime minister.
“The replacement process was done in accordance with the federal constitution,” he said, adding that the fall of the PH government was due to its failure in fulfilling the people’s aspirations.
Azmin also alleged that eight PH cabinet ministers had pressured Dr Mahathir to replace the secretaries-general of their ministries, adding that the then prime minister disagreed with their requests.
“Why does a government that had only been given the mandate by the people need to fight with civil service members even though they are not involved in politics?”
However, Azmin, who is the caretaker international trade and industry minister, did not reveal the names of the former ministers involved. – The Vibes, October 26, 2022
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