The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) youth exco Muhammad Hafiz Azhar would face disciplinary proceedings after questioning the party's leaders Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin at a press conference yesterday.

Bersatu youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the party has no issues with dissenting voices, but their grouses must be voiced through proper channels.

"I think there is someone behind this; there is a problem there. I think the way forward is not to strip him of his post outright, but to defer his case to the (Bersatu) disciplinary tribunal that was recently formed.

"There, we will give him the opportunity to answer questions, or he himself can say that he is dissatisfied with this issue. That's his prerogative.

"At the same time, if he insists on abusing Bersatu's youth name and using the wrong forum, we will let the disciplinary committee take further action," he told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

He said Hafiz had numerous opportunities to pose his questions directly to Mahathir and Muhyiddin, including both open and closed-door forums. However, he claimed Hafiz did not attend those forums.

Hafiz had his chance

Yesterday, Berita Harian quoted Hafiz urging Mahathir to explain his children's wealth and for Muhyiddin to come clean on his alleged affair.

"We the youth want to be led by political leaders who are transparent and clean from allegations of graft. We don’t like it when party leaders are accused of graft and abuse of power.

"Therefore, we urge Mahathir to come forward and shed light on his children’s extraordinary wealth accrued in a short time.

"For us, this issue needs to be answered immediately to counter allegations and preserve the party’s good name, and give a clear explanation to us youths. It is often raised by the grassroots, so we need an answer," he was quoted as saying.

He reportedly claimed that he had sought answers through the party’s WhatsApp group but failed to get a response, and he was unable to pose a question at the party’s meetings and assemblies.

However, Syed Saddiq argued that Hafiz had numerous opportunities to pose his questions directly to Mahathir and Muhyiddin, including both open and closed-door forums.

Among others, he said Bersatu’s leadership had numerous meetings with Mahathir, Muhyiddin, and Mahathir’s son and Bersatu deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir had been asked similar questions.

However, he claimed Hafiz did not attend those forums.

One out of 24

At today’s press conference with Bersatu youth’s exco line-up, Syed Saddiq said Hafiz’s actions does not reflect the youth wing’s views, nor does the executive council agrees with him.

"I had discussed with 23 out of 23 Bersatu youth’s exco members regarding the issues he raised yesterday, and we unanimously reject what he did, especially because he tarnished Bersatu youth’s good name," he said.

He claimed that Bersatu youth’s leadership was not informed prior to Hafiz' press conference, and he had used Bersatu youth’s letterhead for the press conference.

He added that Hafiz had been uncontactable immediately before and ever since yesterday's press conference, even by his friends outside of political circles.

"I hope he is alright. We are not picking a fight with him; our focus is still BN, or corrupt leaders within Umno and BN to be more specific.

"We hope he will meet us for a dialog. You are not our enemy, our enemy are those who steal and pilfer from the rakyat's coffer," said.

Nevertheless, Syed Saddiq said Bersatu Youth would hold a “Nothing to Hide” forum featuring Mahathir to settle the allegations against him once and for all, and challenged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to attend.

Muhyiddin had previously dismissed the allegation of having an affair as "malicious slander". Mukhriz had previously accepted a challenge to debate allegations regarding his wealth, but the debate was scuttled by the police.

Fair hearing

Meanwhile, when asked about nature of the disciplinary proceedings against Hafiz, Syed Saddiq assured that it would be done in a transparent and just manner.

"It will be a very transparent process where he will have the right to explain himself, and we would try to reason with him on why there is an immense disagreement on our side, and try to find a middle ground and a way forward.

"We don't want to fall into the unfortunate punitive culture that Umno and BN applies, where whenever someone asks a question, they get kicked out," he said.

To another question, Syed Saddiq acknowledged that there are suspicions that Hafiz had been working with the party’s rivals, but stressed that there is no concrete proof.

"It is not just from Bersatu, but even friends in Umno and BN are telling us that Hafiz has been compromised. However, our stance is that as long as there is no concrete proof on the allegation, we can’t hurl accusations at him.

"There must be concrete proof. That’s why I didn’t raise the issue, but instead I mentioned firstly, that he abused Bersatu youth’s name, and secondly, to bring the matter to an open forum although he didn’t attend all the other meetings where we discussed all these issues behind open or closed doors.

"So the suspicion is there, but it is not our culture to slander until we have concrete proof on this matter," he said.