The office of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has demanded a public apology from news portal The Malaysian Insider over a story which it claims to be untrue and reeked of bad intention.
His political secretary, Dr Samsuri Mokhtar, asked that the online portal publish Hadi’s letter denying the report, which claimed the PAS chief had asked PKR deputy president Azmin Ali to join PAS and form a unity government with Umno in Selangor.
Samsuri said Azmin recently called on Hadi and he (Samsuri) was present when the two men held their discussions.
“Azmin had thanked Tuan Guru (Hadi) for nominating him as a candidate for the Selangor Mentri Besar post on Aug 17.
“He also sought views and advice from the president on how to strengthen the Pakatan Rakyat grouping. There was no mention whatsoever on the issue of unity government with Umno, as claimed,” said Samsuri, adding that the news portal must be responsible and pubish the denial besides issuing a public apology.
In its report on Monday, The Malaysian Insider claimed Hadi had told the party central committee meeting that he had offered Azmin to join PAS with a few of his PKR members to form a unity government with Umno.
It was reported that Azmin reportedly turned down the offer.
The Malaysian Insider, however, stands by its report, claiming that it has corroborated information for the article from several central committee members present at the meeting.-thestaronline
