KUALA LUMPUR: A message circulating on WhatsApp and social media, claiming that Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has resigned, is untrue.
In a statement issued tonight, Khairy's political secretary Datuk Megat Firdaouz Megat Junid said the claim was false, and labeled it a desperate move.
"I hope people will be wary of this desperate tactic," he said.
"I hope this explanation will go some way towards ending this slander," he added.
The fake message, which had been in circulation since yesterday, had claimed that Khairy, who is also Umno Youth Chief and Rembau Member of Parliament, had relinquished his posts. The message had also claimed that he and his supporters were gathering in Putrajaya.
Khairy appears to be the latest victim in a series of increasingly bold moves by certain quarters to apparently sow discord within Umno and Barisan Nasional ranks. Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi became the target of a fake letter, which claimed that he had written to members of Cabinet urging them to call for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down.
Zahid, who is also Umno vice-president, has since rubbished the claim.