KUALA LUMPUR — The sex scandal implicating a PKR leader appears to have hit a raw nerve with party president Anwar Ibrahim as he took issue with suggestions that his faction may have been behind it.

PKR members have expressed fear that this latest sex scandal would lead to more friction between groups allied to deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali and Mr Anwar.

“What evidence? What nonsense is this? You should not insinuate. It’s very bad, libellous and grossly unjust," Mr Anwar said. 

“We are sympathetic but it doesn’t make sense for us to cast aspersions on others without any shred of evidence.

“Don’t deflect from the central issue. We have a problem here and we have to deal with it. It would not solve anything by casting aspersions,” said Mr Anwar before a reporter could finish his question. 

The reporter wanted to ask what steps have been taken to unite the party after supporters of Mr Azmin blamed Mr Anwar’s supporters for the leaked sex videos.

Mr Anwar added that his party remained united although concerned with the latest sex scandal to have plagued his party.

“I was in Sabah recently and all the divisions attended. In Sarawak, it was the same. People asked questions and, of course, they are concerned with what’s happening. That’s legitimate. 

“My concern is, do not cast aspersions on anybody. Rely purely on facts and clear evidence because this is not a culture we should promote or condone,” he said at the Malaysian Indian Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry Raya open house in Petaling Jaya on Monday (June 17) night.

Mr Azmin had earlier questioned how PKR leaders’ mobile numbers had been leaked to the sex video perpetrators, suggesting that the numbers could have been leaked by party members.

The perpetrators had created several WhatsApp groups and put in politicians, police and journalists last Tuesday.

They then uploaded several sex video clips and still photos alleging that the two men featured in the video were Mr Azmin and PKR Santubong Youth chief Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz.

While Mr Haziq has admitted to being one of the men in the video, Mr Azmin has denied all allegations.

Mr Anwar also said he did not want to comment on an Australian news report that the videos were authentic.

“An observation has been made and we should let police do their work. I don’t want to comment on it. We should just leave it to police,” said the Port Dickson MP.

Earlier on Monday, SBS News ran a report that had experts, who had studied the videos, saying that the clips did not appear to have been doctored.

The Australian media company said it consulted several digital forensics experts on the authenticity of the videos, and the consensus was that the clips did not show signs of digital alterations.

The experts were unable, however, to determine the identity of the two men in the videos. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT