Sex video: Anwar a victim of character assassination, reveals poll
By The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — A local poll has found that a majority of people believe Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is merely a victim of character assassination in the latest sex video scandal.
The poll, conducted by independent survey house Merdeka Center last week, also discovered that respondents agree the video had been released to destroy the former deputy prime minister’s political career.
The survey was conducted via the telephone between March 24 and 27 and has an estimated margin of error of ± 4.40 per cent. A total of 504 respondents were selected via random stratified sampling method along the lines of state, ethnicity, gender and age.
The respondents comprised 59 per cent Malays, 32 per cent Chinese and nine per cent Indians.
According to survey findings obtained by The Malaysian Insider, of the 504 respondents polled, 85 per cent were aware of the existence of the video while 15 per cent were not.
A total of 45 per cent said Anwar was a victim of political character assassination while 22 per cent agreed that the leader was a man of poor moral standing.
Twenty-seven per cent said they were unsure and six per cent declined comment.
Anwar is currently undergoing his second sodomy trial.
When asked for their views on why video had surfaced, 39 per cent said they believed it was a ploy to destroy the Permatang Pauh MP’s career.
A total of 24 per cent said they were unsure while 22 per cent said it was likely designed to distract voters in the looming Sarawak state polls this April 16.
Only nine per cent said that the video was a part of Anwar’s ploy to gain public sympathy while four per cent said the video was authentic.
The 21-minute long video features a man with striking resemblance to Anwar engaging in sex acts with a woman, believed to be a foreign prostitute.
The “Datuk T” trio behind the caper, namely former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik, businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay and Perkasa treasurer Datuk Shuib Lazim, have insisted that Anwar is the man in the video.
The three have since given statements to the police on the matter and surrendered the original clip, along with an Omega watch, which purportedly belongs to the opposition leader.
The clip first surfaced on March 21 when a private media screening was held at the historic Carcosa Seri Negara, which once housed the colonial British Resident, and later became a luxury hotel.
Following the screening, Anwar denied that he was the man, and called the emergence of the video recording a “scurrilous attack” against him, his family and Pakatan Rakyat.
The pact’s leaders have since gone on damage control-mode but analysts have predicted that the latest scandal would tarnish both Anwar’s and PR’s image and could affect the opposition’s chances in Sarawak.
