Pakatan saves sex video offensive for after Sarawak polls
By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will go on the offensive after a recent survey showed that the public believed Barisan Nasional (BN) was to blame for the sex video scandal — but only after the Sarawak state polls.
PAS vice president Datuk Dr Mahfuz Omar said the opposition will “mobilise the issue” only after the state election as the scandal would get no play with Sarawak voters more concerned about the chief minister’s alleged corruption and abuse of power.
Mahfuz said PR already had a plan to get the most political mileage out of the issue but declined to elaborate further.
“This is a simple issue,” he said. “Malaysian society will not accept this culture of slander.”
The Pokok Sena Mp said the public has always been sceptical of the many allegations levelled against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, citing their reaction to his first sodomy conviction in 1998 and the ongoing Sodomy II trial.
“If everyone believed the accusations (against him), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim he wouldn’t be where he is now,” he said.
Mahfuz added that the sex video had only worsened public opinion of BN politics, in addition to damaging the country’s reputation abroad.
PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar agreed that the video worked against BN as many politicians linked to the ruling coalition had been implicated in the scandal.
But she said it was equally important to use the opportunity to remind voters there were more substantial issues to focus on, such as the need for political and economic reform in the country.
“It has to be done hand-in-hand, not just so much to explain that BN is really utilising gutter politics,” the Lembah Pantai MP said.
“At the end of the day, we have that double responsibility not only to defend the truth but also to try to bring politics to a more elevated level.”
Nurul Izzah nonetheless admitted that certain voters, especially Malays, cast ballots based more on sentiment than issues and stressed that PR needed to “remain relevant to the people’s emotions”.
DAP national organising secretary Teresa Kok said PR will harness the increased interest in the opposition following the sex video’s disclosure, citing greater turnout at PR ceramah recently.
“Although it (the video) created some doubts in the minds of many, most people that I talk to don’t think Anwar did it,” she said.
The Seputeh MP explained that the highly publicised scandal gave PR the chance to reach out and make their case to people who would not otherwise be interested in other issues.
