“That’s why I asked Rafizi to go against Azmin, as Azmin has become a ‘barua’ (lackey) to Mahathir,” said a voice strongly resembling that of the PKR de facto leader.

PKR leaders have dismissed the audio clips as “fake”.

In an immediate reaction, Rafizi, who is gunning for Azmin’s post in PKR at the coming party polls, said the voice was not Anwar’s, adding that he was “extremely sure” of this.

“Anwar’s voice is more baritone,” Rafizi said.

Meanwhile, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil said the audio clips were the work of “irresponsible” people out to create “misinformation” in the lead up to the PKR elections.

“The aim is to sow discord and disharmony in the party,” he said.

The audio clips are believed to be not more than three days old, as a reference was made to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision to helm Khazanah Nasional Berhad following the exit of its board members.

“He [Mahathir] appointed himself as Khazanah’s chairman. What’s this, the people lose, Khazanah loses,” he said.

The same voice went on in a separate clip: “In the past, he accused me of sodomy… did he forget… about the Forex case RM30 billion”, referring to the forex scandal of 1990s during Mahathir’s first term as prime minister.

On Monday, Mahathir named himself and Azmin, who is the economic affairs minister, as Khazanah chairman and director respectively.