A PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) lawmaker who was ‘caught on camera vaping’ when he was just holding a pen close to his mouth wants the Dewan Rakyat speaker to summon and reprimand Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s photographer who was responsible in circulating pictures of him allegedly smoking vape recently.

Tanah Merah MP Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz who confessed to be a non-smoker “and can’t even stay close to people who smoke” insisted that such action is necessary as a lesson to the photographer involved after it was proven that he did not vape inside the Dewan Rakyat.

The former deputy defence minister from Bersatu also stressed the need “to clean up” his tarnished image after receiving various criticisms following the spread of his vaping picture on social media.

This is considering that the picture posted by the photographer on X (formerly Twitter) has gone viral by commanding more than one million views.

“Has the Speaker called the photographer? I believe a professional photographer will not snap one single picture or has any verification been made based on CCTV (closed circuit television) check?” he asked.

“Since my image has been being tainted and it has been proven that I don’t smoke vape, shouldn’t the Speaker reprimand outsiders whether it’s the photographer concerned or people who are allowed into the proceeding hall not to simply viral any picture (that they snap)?”

Ikmal Hisham further pointed out that Section 9 of the Meeting Rules has clearly proven that the action of the photographer was wrong because he resorted to spreading a picture that eventually provoked slanders.

Meanwhile, PN’s chief whip Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan likened the action of the photographer involved to a “paparazzi” who deliberately wanted to find the fault of certain MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.

“Did the photographer who took the picture wrongly acted as a paparazzi in the Parliament by being on the look-out for any perceived wrongdoing which at the end of the day contains elements of slender?” the Kota Bahru MP who is also the  PAS secretary-general asked.

“I hope the Dewan Rakyat will issue its stance as to whether it will summon the said photographer whom I understand has confessed to committing an offence in this matter.” - Oct 9, 2023

https://focusmalaysia.my/is-this-a-case-of-the-pms-official-photographer-becoming-a-parliament-paparazzi/