So what if phone call with Zahid is genuine, Anwar asks

PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim says he has yet to lodge a police report refuting the authenticity of an explosive phone conversation with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, appearing to stop short of denying that it was indeed him in the recording where he was heard congratulating Zahid on the outcome of the recent Umno general assembly.

“I haven’t lodged the report as I have just returned from Port Dickson.

“But now I’m seriously thinking, what’s the issue? The issue is to divert attention from creeping corruption, the suspension of Parliament and the abandoning of policies to (help) the people’s plight.

“If the (audio) is genuine, what’s the problem? Is there treachery, corruption or a criminal offence?” he said when questioned on the audio recording controversy at a dialogue with several academics today.

When pressed by the moderator on whether the person in the recording was indeed him, Anwar said there was no benefit to the people in discussing the topic.

“I have made a statement. Zahid has made his statement. Enough,” he added.

Anwar also said there were many other audio and video recordings which the authorities had ignored.

“It looks like they are making political capital out of this to show that Anwar (is with) Zahid,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was also heard in an audio recording offering posts to Umno leaders who switched parties.

In the four-minute clip recently revealed by MalaysiaNow, Anwar is heard congratulating and giving instructions to Zahid in the aftermath of the Umno general assembly which accepted his proposal to cut ties with the Perikatan Nasional government.

Zahid in return thanked Anwar for his moral support.

MalaysiaNow has been able to verify that the clip is authentic, and that the voices are those of Anwar and Zahid.

But both leaders have denied speaking to each other, saying they will send their representatives to lodge police reports.

Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador urged the two to lodge police reports if they truly believed they had been slandered.