The latest sex scandal to rock Malaysia took a new twist on Thursday when the politician claiming to be in a sex video with economic affairs minister Azmin Ali alleged he had been asked to lie about their purported affair. People’s Justice Party (PKR) member Haziq Abdul Aziz, who has confessed to being in the leaked footage, released a statement claiming Azmin had chosen to “tie up his loose ends rather than owning up to his mistakes”. Haziq works for the country’s deputy primary industries minister but has been suspended from his job and given three days to offer a satisfactory explanation or be sacked. Haziq said Azmin’s aide Hilman Idham had approached him and demanded he deny it was Azmin in the viral video. “He asked me to lie for you. I asked for more time to consult my parents and this angered him. After I refused he made threats and said ‘this’ will be shut down within 48 hours with or without my help to lie,” Haziq wrote in a Facebook statement aimed at Azmin. Haziq’s PKR branch chief, however, suggested on Wednesday that his Facebook page may have been hacked. On Thursday, Azmin told reporters he only knew Haziq from afar. Haziq has alleged several other trysts have taken place in various hotels across Malaysia as far back as three years ago, and has accused Azmin of recording the videos without his knowledge or consent. “I know you are a sick man because only you could have recorded the videos for personal collection after inviting me to your hotel room on all occasions. I am worried more videos will be leaked, and the luxury you have as a minister is deniability, whereas my future is over. You even have the prime minister pledging his full support before any formal investigation has been done,” Haziq said, adding that he was concerned for his family’s safety. Minister says gay sex video is ‘nefarious plot’ to ruin him His latest statement came as Hilman reported the explosive accusations to Islamic authorities on behalf of Azmin, claiming his boss had been a victim of qazaf , or false accusations. When asked by local media, Hilman admitted he had met Haziq but did not comment further, simply saying the videos were “a conspiracy to restrict the minister’s political progress and the successes of his ministry”. The Islamic authorities can now investigate the matter by summoning Haziq and asking he present four male witnesses before a judge. If he fails to do so, he will run the risk of being prosecuted – although circumstantial evidence such as the videos can be taken into account if their authenticity can be established. On Tuesday, several clips of two men having sexual relations were shared with local media via WhatsApp . A day later, Haziq released a Facebook statement confessing he was one of the men in the video and that the other was Azmin, who is also PKR deputy president. Haziq called upon Malaysian anti-corruption authorities to investigate Azmin. The issue has left the country’s Pakatan Harapan coalition government reeling as politicians from both sides of the divide condemn “gutter politics”. Azmin has rejected claims he is the man in the video, vowing to expose those behind the “abominable” allegations and take legal action. Malaysian minister implicated in gay sex video Observers note that the use of sex scandals to take down politicians has been a hallmark of Malaysian politics from the late 1990s until now, pointing out the similarities between Azmin’s case and that of PKR president and democracy icon Anwar Ibrahim, who is slated to become prime minister before 2023. Anwar was twice accused and found guilty of sodomy , before a royal pardon exonerated him in 2018. Despite the pardon, allegations about his sexuality have pursued Anwar up until now. He has maintained the accusations were fabricated by his political foes, including his former mentor and current premier Mahathir Mohamad during the latter’s first term as prime minister.