‘Azmin should explain RM8.5m in shares’

(NST) – Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air president Dr Zamil Ibrahim wants Azmin Ali to come clean over ownership of shares purportedly worth RM8.5 million.

He said to date, Azmin had yet to explain where the Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president and his wife got the money to buy the shares.

“If he continues not to answer, people will ask whether had he struck the lottery,” he said, adding that Azmin should take the opportunity to clear the air in either Parliament or the Selangor assembly.

He was responding to claims that Azmin and his wife allegedly owned RM8.5 million worth of shares in the early 1990s, when Azmin was just earning about RM2,000 to RM3,000 a month.

On Monday, former Selangor executive councillor Datuk Dr Hasan Ali had also called on Azmin to answer these allegations.

Zamil said if it was true that Azmin, who is Gombak member of parliament, did have such a large number of shares, then the onus was on him to reveal who gave him the shares.

He also urged Azmin to sue any blogger over the matter if the claims were untrue. This included his own sister, Umi Hafilda and Malaysian Indian United Party president Datuk S. Nallakaruppan.

“Why didn’t he take any action to stop them? As an MP who thinks of himself as transparent, he should sue. If he continues to remain quiet, people will think such allegations are true,” he said.

Azmin, when met at Parliament, did not respond to the allegations and hit out at his detractors, calling their claims “slanderous”.

Training his guns at Hasan, Azmin said he did not want to respond to someone who was “obviously playing gutter politics”.

“I am quite surprised that someone as educated as him can come up with such a statement, questioning my integrity and credibility.

“I choose to not respond to my political enemies through character assassination, he should have addressed the issue then go on the attack.”