|
©Today
Online, Singapore (Used by permission)
THE angry voices outside the Medan Selera market yesterday morning, just 24
hours before polling booths were to open in Permatang Pauh, stopped many in
their tracks.
Opposition supporters were berating two women, one of whom wore a jacket with
the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) logo. The women had been handing out what
appeared to be pamphlets for Mr Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) as
well as a VCD.
The VCD shows footage of Mr Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s controversial oath on
the Quran, taken at a Kuala Lumpur mosque on Aug 15, that Mr Anwar had sodomised
him.
“It is unacceptable to use our logo and spread lies about our candidate,” said
PKR supporter Jeffri Sabri, 41. The two women declined to be interviewed by
Today.
Scenes like this, labelled by some as “the politics of deception and confusion”
have become commonplace in the days leading up to the emotionally charged
by-election.
A central character in all this: Mohd Saiful, the 23-year-old former aide to
the61-year-old PKR supremo, who has accused Mr Anwar of sodomising him in
June.Mr Anwar has dismissed the allegation as part of a conspiracy to block his
political return.
Still, there is no running away from the “Saiful factor” in the hustings,
especially since sodomy, consensual or forced, is a crime, punishable by up to
20 years’ jail.
Although, campaign workers for the ruling coalition have not been shy about
exploiting the sodomy controversy, BN candidate Arif Shah Omar Shah, 52, has
said that he would rather not resort to such tactics.
“Everyone has freedom of speech but for me I rather not touch on that matter,”
Mr Arif Shah told Today outside his home.
“If the Saiful situation is true, let the courts decide ... it is a personal
matter,” said the state assemblyman yesterday. However, he admitted, his
position does not mean that others in BN would practise restraint.
There have been screenings of Mr Saiful taking his oath at every BN ceramah.
A survey by Merdeka Centre, an independent research group, suggests that the
“Saiful oath” has in fact had an impact.
In July, when the sodomy allegations first became public, 15 per cent of
Malaysians believed them. However, a poll of 544 voters in Permatang Pauh
conducted from last Friday to Sunday found that the percentage who believed had
doubled.
PKR supporters are worried that some voters may not wait for the court verdict
on the matter and have already made up their minds based on what they have heard
during the campaign, which according to Malaysian Insider, include the claim
that the stains on Mr Mohd Saiful’s undergarments and body matched Mr Anwar’s
DNA.
“Of course, people who are ill-informed may consider this information to be
true,” Mr Anwar’s wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, told Today in a phone
interview.
Still, the PKR camp had some good news. The Muslim cleric who was present atMr
Mohd Saiful’s oath-taking revealed late on Sunday that he “had been instructed”
to witness the event. Imam Ramlang Porigi did not reveal who had ordered him to
do so.
“The imam said he was instructed to do it, the script was ready although he knew
it was wrong ...” Mr Anwar told reporters.
This latest twist could give the opposition icon, who has been under pressure to
take his own oath on the Quran, with a last-minute boost at the polls which open
today.
 |
News 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Circular No 297/2008
