An opposition leader had urged him to resign if he failed to clear the air about the allegation.
Liew said that he had merely told the Dewan Negara that the aide, Ahmad Sabki Yusof, had made a declaration that he had declared his interests to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
“That’s all. I did not say anything more than what I’ve said,” he told FMT. “You can all check the Hansard (the parliamentary record of proceedings).”
The MACC recently announced that it had completed its investigations of Ahmad Sabki, who is political secretary of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub. Ahmad Sabki was alleged to have accepted a bribe in the form of a luxury watch worth about RM28,000 from a developer.
MACC chief Latheefa Koya said investigation papers were now with the Attorney-General’s Chambers for further action.
Liew said everything else about what he had reportedly said had been added in “and (I have) been misquoted. I did not say anything about (whether) he purchased the thing (the watch).”
He said he had been misquoted by a local news portal in particular and quipped that this was a case of “the blind leading the blind”.
“What I said was that he (Ahmad Sabki) has already explained what happened and that he declared his interests. That is why the MACC freed him.”
On Thursday, Liew was quoted by Malaysiakini as telling the Senate that Ahmad Sabki had purchased the watch. He was reported to have said “MACC freed him because he was able to explain where he obtained the money to buy the watch”.
In a follow-up report, Malaysiakini also cited Ahmad Sabki’s admittance that he received the luxury watch as a gift to Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) chief Abu Kassim Mohamed.
Earlier today, MCA president Wee Ka Siong accused Liew of having lied to the Dewan Negara and said he should resign if he failed to give a satisfactory explanation.
Liew said Wee’s remark was a mere “political insinuation”.
In turn, he urged Wee to call for the resignation of senators from his party who had not supported the recently-passed motion requiring all senators to declare their assets.
The motion was adopted with 34 ayes from 57 senators who debated the motion on Monday. Five MCA Senators did not support it, Liew said. The motion passed with an 11-vote majority.
“They’ve failed in their duties as Dewan Negara Senators by not even bothering to turn up to vote on Thursday,” Liew added, referring to the Senate’s approval of a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18.
Two MCA Senators did not show up on Thursday to vote for the amendment.