Datuk Seri Azmin Ali did not ask Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to step aside so that he can contest the PKR presidency, Muhammad Hilman Idham has said.
The political secretary to Azmin was responding to Rafizi Ramli’s claim made during a ceramah in Kota Baru last night.
The PKR deputy presidential candidate claimed that Azmin travelled to Turkey to ask Anwar to step aside and allow him to become the PKR president.
“Anwar was about to go for surgery, and he went to meet him to say ‘You don’t have to contest, let me become the party president.’
“But Anwar stressed that he would contest.
“If this story wasn’t true, I would not say it live like this,” he was quoted as saying by a news portal.
Rafizi added that the incident was not out in the open but it was “common knowledge” among party members.
He also claimed Anwar’s path to contesting the PKR presidency was not as clear-cut.
Hilman said Azmin did go to Turkey but at the instruction of Anwar.
“No one was allowed to meet Anwar during and after his surgery except for family members.
“Apart from them, only Azmin was allowed.
“If Azmin really had wanted to meet Anwar, he would not have agreed to the meeting. What Rafizi is saying is impossible,” Hilman was quoted as saying.
Hilman, who is also Gombak Setia assemblyman, asked Rafizi not to ‘name drop’ the names of leaders in his campaign.
“As a deputy president candidate, he should stand on his own platform and make his offer to the members. There’s no need to pluck the names of other leaders.
“It will not make PKR any stronger once the party elections are concluded,” he said.