Pornographic tapes add more sleaze to Malaysian polls

Pornographic tapes add more sleaze to Malaysian polls

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A Malaysian opposition party said on
Thursday that individuals "allegedly linked" to the ruling
coalition were distributing videotapes containing sexual slanders
about jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Chandra Muzaffar, deputy president of the National Justice
Party (Keadilan), accused Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of
mounting the "dirtiest ever" election campaign.

"As part of the political filth that is being pumped into the
election, groups and individuals allegedly linked to Mahathir's
Barisan Nasional (National Front coalition) are now actively
distributing videotapes" on Anwar, he told a press conference.

He said another videotape concerned a candidate from the Parti
Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

PAS and Keadilan, founded by Anwar's wife Azizah, are part of
the opposition Alternative Front whose candidate for prime
minister is Anwar. The other major member is the Democratic
Action Party (DAP).

Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, in a gloomy forecast before
the Nov. 29 polls, said his party would probably "lose big" after
a multi-faith council decided to back the ruling coalition out of
fear of PAS.

Lim told a separate press conference the Malaysian Council of
Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism had decided to back
the National Front because the Alternative Front includes PAS,
whose ultimate aim is an Islamic state.

"The pledge by the (council) to support the Barisan Nasional
(National Front) in the general election is a major blow to DAP
and Barisan Alternatif," Lim said.

"It would probably be the single biggest cause for the DAP to
lose big instead of to win big..," he added, saying the council
appeared to have fallen for ruling coalition "propaganda."

The National Front, which paints PAS as an extremist party,
has been attacking the opposition alliance strongly over the
Islamic party's inclusion.

Chandra said the tapes on Anwar and the PAS official -- which
had been left at bus stations and markets -- tried to portray
them as guilty of gross sexual misconduct. He said the Anwar tape
"contains lewd language and is clearly pornographic in content."

Chandra said party officials had lodged complaints with police
about the tapes, which he called another "vicious, malicious
endeavor by Anwar's political and corporate foes" to discredit
him.

He repudiated their content as a "tissue of lies," saying the
alleged sexual misdemeanors were never referred to during Anwar's
first trial.

"I wonder why they did not use it (the tape) as evidence in
court," Azizah told reporters later.

Anwar was sacked by Mahathir in September 1998. He is on trial
for sodomy and is already serving a six-year jail term for
abusing his official powers to cover up allegations of sexual
misconduct.

Chandra said the National Front had no qualms about using the
"foulest and filthiest tactics" to win the polls. He presented no
proof that it was involved in distributing the tapes.

Earlier a Keadilan spokesman said an advertisement which
claims that even Anwar's wife does not trust him had used
fabricated quotes.

The advert on behalf of the National Front ran a headline over
a picture of Wan Azizah reading: "Even she doesn't trust her
husband...If she can't trust him, can we?"

Interspersed was what purported to be a question and answer
from an Australian TV interview in December 1998.

"Do you trust Anwar and Syamsidar absolutely?" the interviewer
was quoted as saying. Azizah was quoted as replying: "Don't trust
anybody absolutely."

One of the allegations which Anwar was convicted of trying to
cover up was that he fathered one of the children of Syamsidar,
the wife of his political secretary Azmin Ali.

Keadilan spokesman Raja Petra Kamarudin told AFP the ruling
coalition spliced together answers to separate questions -- "Do
you believe your husband or not?" and "Whether you believe in the
courts or not?"

Earlier this week a series of adverts for the National Front
featured photos of disturbances sparked by Anwar's treatment.

Analysts say the tactic aims to scare ethnic Chinese into
voting for the status quo after the Anwar issue split the ethnic
Malay vote.