Nurul Izzah admitted she was very upset when her father was accused of being in a sex video with an unidentified woman, and said that in some ways it reminded her of the events of 1998 when Anwar was unceremoniously sacked as the deputy prime minister by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.
“In some ways, what’s happening was reminiscent of the events of 1998. It is not something I would wish for anyone. It is not something pleasant,” she told The Malaysian Insider via a telephone interview.
Nurul Izzah, one of PKR’s younger batch of political leaders, had just returned from Australia earlier this week, where she had attended a series of talks with exiled Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin.
It was there that she had received a call from her father who had informed her of the last scandal, something which she said was unusual because both of their hectic working schedules left little time for phone conversations.
“One of the things I was not expecting that day, just like ‘98, my father called me up and told me of the news,” she said.
The Lembah Pantai MP said that right now what was important for her and her mother Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail — who is PKR president — was to find some form of balance amid the current situation.
According to the first-time lawmaker, what was important was how PKR and PR planned on carrying the issue forward and to return to issues of political reform.
“Before this (1998), we were fighting for issues relating to Anwar’s incarceration. Now we have a party as well as a coalition to manage...this is important for us to reflect, on issues that warrant immediate follow-up action.
“Malaysians have been distracted from issues of political reform...this government administration is too sexually-fixated,” she added.
Police are presently investigating the alleged sex video. The video hit media headlines on Monday when a mysterious “Datuk T” invited selected media personnel to Carcosa Seri Negara to view the recording.
Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik and businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay then revealed that they were “Datuk T” shortly after their identities were unmasked by PKR MP Datuk Johari Abdul.
They also claimed that another man was a part of their team — Datuk Shuib Lazim, Perkasa treasurer and former Umno senator.
PKR is holding Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Dr Mahathir responsible for the latest sex video scandal, claiming they were to blame for creating the culture of slander and corruption among their leaders.
Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers have since disputed the authenticity of the video clip, claiming it is part of a conspiracy by Umno to topple the opposition leader ahead of the coming Sarawak polls.
Anwar, who turns 64 in August, was freed from jail in 2004 and is seen as the glue that binds the PKR-PAS-DAP pact.
He had played a key role in forming a viable opposition coalition in the run-up to the landmark 2008 general election when the three main opposition parties denied BN its traditional two-thirds control of Parliament.
The fledgling three-party coalition also won control over four other states — Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor — in addition to maintaining Kelantan in the 12th General Election.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had slammed the video which showed a man resembling a senior Malay opposition leader engaged in sex with a woman said to be prostitute.
Abdul Hadi had called it a dirty political move coming ahead of the Sarawak state elections.
A former deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998, Anwar filed a police report denying he was the man recorded.
The father of six who is standing trial for sodomy with a former male aide has accused Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein of being involved in the video-recording, which Anwar said was an attack on him and PR. - Malaysian Insider
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