IPOH, April 9 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin today said that both PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should lodge police reports if they are not the ones in the audio recording which went viral on social media this week.
Hamzah, who is also the home minister, said no report had been lodged by either man as of last night over the matter.
“So far, only the public have made reports, and not their aides or them.
“I want to remind everyone at this juncture that making a false report is wrong. If both of them did not do anything wrong, then they should lodge police reports,” he told a press conference after attending the Malaysia Prihatin programme at Tambun here.
Hamzah asserted that the authorities would definitely take action if Anwar and Zahid made a formal complaint to the police.
“We will investigate whether the audio is authentic or not. Some have asked me whether the authorities will arrest the person who leaked the audio if it were proven authentic, but that is a different matter.
“This can only happen if Zahid and Anwar admit that it is their voices. They can ask the authorities to take action against the person who leaked their personal conversation,” he explained.
Last night, Hamzah also said he sees no problem with the issues discussed in the audio recording purportedly involving the Opposition Leader and Umno president.
He said it is up to Umno if it wishes to work with PKR, and there is no issue if Anwar is really a mentor to Zahid due to their shared history in Umno.
An audio recording of a phone conversation between two people with voices resembling that of Anwar and Zahid was leaked on the internet earlier this week.
The four-minute clip was first posted on Facebook and started with Zahid’s speech during the recent Umno general assembly, in which he said the party would not accept Anwar, DAP or Bersatu as allies.
It was followed by a phone conversation between two men, in which one who sounds like Anwar is heard praising the other for the speech.
Zahid has since expressed his shock and disappointment at the recording, calling it fake and an attempt to weaken and destroy Umno.
Anwar meanwhile has also rejected the audio recording, similarly calling it fake and slanderous and the latest ploy by “some elements in the government leadership” to damage inter-party ties within the Opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition ahead of GE15.
