'I was not a traitor, I was backstabbed' - Azmin

KUALA LUMPUR - Selangor Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has denied the claims that he was a traitor in Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Instead, the former Selangor Menteri Besar said he was 'stabbed' in the back by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and sacked from the party.

"I was appointed by Tun Dr Mahathir (Mohamad), not Anwar. Once again, this proved that he did not want me to be more successful than him.

"He back-stabbed me. He fired me. I did not jump party. I want to stand by this record. If there’s any report saying 'since Azmin left Keadilan', that is not true.

"Why should I leave the party when two-thirds of my team won in the party election? But since PKR is not democratic enough, no one can criticise the president, we would be fire," he said on the 'Keluar Sekejap' podcast.

Azmin said this in response to the podcast's host former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan's comments on Anwar’s lack of confidence in him (Azmin).

He said he was denied of a lot of things, including when Pakatan Harapan (PH) was helming the federal government in 2018.

He added that he was never listed to take on any position even though he was the party's vice-president and the longest member then.

In February 2020, the PKR central leadership council decided to sack Azmin as a party member.

The decision was reported to be taken following Azmin’s action which at that time was deemed as 'an open treachery' which could jeopardise the stability in PH. - AWANI