The Snake of Yusuf Al Qaradawi

COMMENT | There are two mutually exclusive questions in this sex video scandal. The first is, is the video genuine? And the second, who are the conspirators who wish to bring down a federal minister? PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution’s denial that there is no crisis brewing over the sex tape scandal is ludicrous, considering that there is a crisis brewing over the scandal involving power players at the highest level. This is played out in the press by statements from PKR's political elite - and not just whispered conversations on chat groups.

Saifuddin, the former Umno Youth rabble-rouser, once famously apologised for the mob he led which disrupted the Apcet  11 forum in the 90s, where he admitted that he was under the orders of the then deputy home affairs minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob. Saifuddin said: "At 4pm, Oct 9, 1996, I was called by Megat Junid. I went to meet him, escorted by a few senior police officers."

He added that the minister then told him, "By hook or by crook, you must stop the conference. Kalau tidak, saya anggap Pemuda Umno tiada telur (Otherwise, I would assume that Umno Youth has no balls)." I mention this bit of trivia because it demonstrates the kind of politics that is practised by Malay power structures in this country. The kind of intentional thug politics that is often disguised as spontaneous expressions of dissatisfaction and which reflect a conspiratorial attitude, the mindset of the political elite in this country.

Which is why when PKR political operatives are claiming all is going well in their party, we should take it with a pinch of salt. It is pointless for PM-designate Anwar Ibrahim to come out and say that he and his people are not behind the scandal – which may be true – as it is pointless for people to ape the PM and say that political operatives should not engage in “gutter politics”.

Azmin Ali (above), for instance, goes on about “not speculating” on who is behind this attack on his political career, but has no problem casting aspersions on his political party. Who gave out the contact numbers of members, he wonders in the press. The party should be transparent to remain relevant, he reminds the people from the press.

His comments on the issue of internal schisms within Harapan, which could cause voters distrust, have now morphed into the realisation that this is an inside job, after the media made a big deal about Anwar’s missing political secretary.

Meanwhile, why is it taking so long to sack Azmin's accuser from his government position and from the party? After all, isn’t admitting you are a consensual participant in a sex video grounds for dismissal from government service? Anwar saying that he won’t “punish” Haziq until after the police have finished their investigation is horse manure. After all, Haziq “confessed” that it was him in the video, so is it Anwar’s position that someone who confesses to “immoral” acts should still remain in PKR? Deputy Primary Industries Minister Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin claim, that his ministry will decide in a couple of days whether to give Haziq the boot, is extremely gracious.

What happened to all the fire and brimstone reserved for people who commit “immoral acts”? If Anwar’s aide believes that Azmin should quit, if guilty, why is Haziq deserving of Anwar’s protection when he has confessed his guilt? Why is it that the propaganda organs of Umno and PAS are remaining on the sidelines, while partisans within PKR are tearing up each other, spreading all sorts of “evidence” for and against Azmin?

Dismissing calls to open an investigation into the allegations and Haziq (above), Anwar said: "We strongly reject gutter politics, but I will not punish him (Haziq) before the police complete their investigations. I think we should confine ourselves to facts.” We should confine ourselves to the facts?

Okay, you have a member of your party who has accused a senior member of your party and federal minister of sexual misconduct. This junior member is being investigated by the police. You have the senior minister’s aide claiming that he met Haziq, who told him that he was part of a conspiracy to ruin this senior minister's political career.

If Azmin’s aide’s version of the meeting is to be believed, then Azmin would be aware whether the conspiracy was internal or external, which is probably why every statement that Azmin makes seems to implicate an internal conspiracy. Azmin says this: “PKR leadership must 'take a bold decision' to investigate claims that factions within the party were responsible for the leaked sex video” implicating him. What does this mean? Carrying it further, when Azmin is convinced that this was an inside job, why doesn’t Anwar Ibrahim, or anyone else in PKR, want to investigate?

Think about it. Deputy Primary Industries Minister Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin (above), who is also a PKR vice president, was questioned for five hours about this sex video scandal. In other words, you have the upper echelon of the PKR political leadership being questioned by the state security apparatus and PKR is telling all who would listen that it is business as usual?

With all of this, Anwar believes that the state security apparatus should finish its investigation and PKR's internal mechanism should do nothing? What kind of political party is PKR when it does not seem bothered to investigate its own members for possible misconduct and telling its base to leave it to the state security apparatus?

Who knows if there is a conspiracy from within PKR to topple Azmin, but what we do know is that the statements coming out from the participants in this sordid saga make it seem that the threat is from within, not from without.

At this point, I have no idea how independent an internal investigation into these allegations would be. I think that it is shocking that the PKR political elites do not even want to make a show of investigating the scandal from their end. Indeed, wanting the police only to investigate seems like an attempt at plausible deniability.

I get the impression that some political operatives want to sweep this issue under the carpet because it is destabilising to Harapan. I get that there are bigger issues confronting us, as Jomo Kwame Sundaram recently warned us.