'We move on, domo arigato' - Anwar declines queries on sex video

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim refused to entertain questions regarding the sex video implicating his deputy Mohamed Azmin Ali.

"We move on. Domo arigato (thank you)," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby after speaking at the Malaysian Economic Symposium this afternoon.

Anwar waved off questions on allegations made by his political secretary Farhash Wafa Salvador after being released from police custody, as well as on rumours that Azmin was planning to leave the party.

Farhash had alleged that his week-long stint in detention was meant to tarnish Anwar's reputation, and that the CCTV recordings at the hotel where the sex video was allegedly recorded had been deleted.

However, Anwar urged reporters to focus on the symposium which was planned three months ago and featured briefings by top government officials.

The three key speakers at the symposium were Bank Negara governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, Economic Affairs Ministry deputy director-general (macro) Zakiah Jaafar and Universiti Malaya economist Edmund Terrence Gomez.

The event was attended by MPs and diplomats. It was organised by Parliament, the Backbenchers Council and the Parliament's Reforms and Governance Caucus.

Previously, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said while the video was most likely authentic, the facial recognition process failed to link Azmin to the recording of two men in bed.

The police chief also disclosed that a political leader was behind the distribution of the video to tarnish the minister's reputation and hundreds of thousands of ringgit were spent on producing the recording.

Azmin, who is also economic affairs minister, has claimed that the video is an inside job aimed at ruining his political career.

Speculation is rife that the video is related to the tussle over the prime minister's post due to claims that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad preferred Azmin to succeed him, despite an agreement that the baton would be passed to Anwar.

Mahathir has also urged the authorities to take action against those behind the circulation of the video, whereas Anwar has denied involvement in the matter.