Caught in an unsavoury bind

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali is fighting off allegations of a sex rendezvous that may derail his political career and which is a reminder that the enemy is not only outside but also within his party.

The man at the centre of the storm obviously did not appreciate the so-called advice. In an immediate and terse response, he tweeted that Dr Wan Azizah should be cautious about making remarks that could lead to misinterpretation. He also blamed the media for dragging his mother into his politics and declared that he loves his mother and remembers her in his prayers.

Joceline Tan, The Star

AZMIN Ali is a man under siege. Publicly, he is fighting off allegations that he is the man captured on camera in a sex tryst. The pictures are all over the Internet and he is suing a leading Malay newspaper for a whopping RM100mil for their reports on the matter.

Come home: Che Tom became emotional when speaking of her son.

Behind the scenes, he is seething that PKR leaders have not come out in force to defend him against the nasty accusations. To add to the drama, his mother appeared on prime time news sobbing and urging him to return to the right path and the family fold.

He is fighting fires on all fronts and it could not have happened at a worst time.

Since his big win as the deputy president of PKR in 2010, Azmin had seemed like a man destined for big things – he is hardworking, he has the ears of his big boss Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his sight is set on the most powerful job in Selangor, the post of Mentri Besar. But the tsunami politics of the last four years has been as temperamental as the weather; one day you are sailing with the wind and the next you are on choppy seas.

The handsome and ambitious PKR deputy president’s political future is balancing on a knife’s edge. He has denied that he is the man in a series of colour photographs showing a couple in various compromising situations.

Even Sinar Harian, the Malay paper of choice for Malay politicians from Pakatan Rakyat, splashed the pictures on its front page. He was on Sinar Harian’s front page a week ago, alongside the headline, “Bukan saya (It’s not me)”. Last week he was on the front page again, this time insisting that, “Saya bukan anak derhaka (I am not an unfilial son).”

His blog, one of the most current and updated among the PKR leaders, has been filled with statements rubbishing the allegations. His standard line of defence: “Fitnah jahat Umno” or Umno’s slander.

In other words, the man in the photo looks like him, dresses like him but is ... err ... not him?

‘No comment’: Khalid’s response read as a lack of support by Azmin’s allies.

Azmin is fighting for his political life. He is furious that PKR leaders have not shown him the support he deserves as the party’s No.2. At a political bureau meeting last week, he lashed out at everyone, including de facto leader Anwar.

He felt hurt and alone as they had not come out in his defence and he had expected Anwar to take the lead in defending him. In fact, he was so upset that he announced his intention to take leave from his party posts with immediate effect.

The political bureau comprises only the top party leaders and all of them listened in silence, not knowing what to say. His loyal ally, Wanita chief Zuraidah Kamaruddin, spoke up in his defence but as one political insider put it, “people were not lining up to say a few words”.

Sulking spells

Besides, said the insider, what did Azmin expect Anwar to say? The de facto leader lives in a glass house and he is battling sex issues of his own.

Azmin, as those familiar with PKR politics would know, was in one of his famous merajuk or sulking spells, which usually happens when he does not get his way. Only Anwar, it is said, can coax him out of such spells.

Anwar subsequently urged those present to lend their moral support to Azmin. He has also presumably persuaded Azmin to change his mind about taking leave from the party, telling him that he has a crucial role to play ahead of the general election.

Azmin seems somewhat placated. But, as they say, what is not said is often more significant than what is openly said. The silence on the part of several key PKR leaders spoke volumes of Azmin’s enemies from within.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s “no comment” remark on the matter is still a talking point. What more the fact that he had allegedly said it with a grin. The inference drawn was that Khalid was all too glad to see Azmin dragged down - or worse, that he believes the pictures are for real.

Visit your mum: Wan Azizah said it is the duty of a son to visit his mother.

But the Mentri Besar’s outspoken political secretary Faekah Husin insisted her boss was being consistent.

“He does not go into such issues. Have you ever heard him comment on Altantuya or the Anwar Ibrahim video? I was in Semporna recently where I spoke about the (Datuk Seri) Shafie Apdal and Zahida Rafik issue. When I told Tan Sri about it, he said I should not have done that. When we gossip about politicians, he scolds us. He says we are cancelling out our pahala(blessings),” said Faekah.

As for vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, she does not share her father’s high regard for Azmin and her silence said a lot about where she stands.

Her mother, party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, made a general remark that in Islam, there must be four witness to such accusations. But it was her remarks about Azmin’s ties with his mother Che Tom Yahaya that attracted public attention and drew the ire of Azmin.

Azmin’s mother and his estranged sister Umi Hafilda had called a press conference in the family home last week during which Che Tom urged Azmin to repent and return to the family’s side.

It was not clear whether the press conference was called in light of the allegations about the photographs but the 78-year-old matriarch sobbed into a fistful of white tissues while recalling that she last saw her son during Hari Raya when he had lost his temper on seeing Umi Hafilda in the house.

Pressmen had asked Dr Wan Azizah about the mother-and-son episode and the PKR president advised Azmin to visit his mother because that is the duty of a son. Then she dropped a mini bombshell – she said she often visited Che Tom. It was a loaded remark and as good as saying that if she could go and see Che Tom now and then, how is it that Azmin does not even visit his mother?

Relations between Dr Wan Azizah and Azmin have never been warm. It has to do with allegations of a fling between Anwar and Azmin’s wife Shamsidar Taharin many years ago.

Pride at stake

Dr Wan Azizah has too much pride to touch on it but everyone knows that Shamsidar is persona non grata at PKR functions graced by Dr Wan Azizah.

The man at the centre of the storm obviously did not appreciate the so-called advice. In an immediate and terse response, he tweeted that Dr Wan Azizah should be cautious about making remarks that could lead to misinterpretation. He also blamed the media for dragging his mother into his politics and declared that he loves his mother and remembers her in his prayers.

Silence is golden: Nurul Izzah has been watching the drama without a word.

Under normal circumstances, Azmin would have shrugged off such remarks. But he is feeling quite marooned, he has been put on the defensive and he imagines shadows behind every rock. The politician in him knows the enemy will strike when one is weak and he is in a bad place at the moment. Azmin has grassroots support in the party but he also has his share of enemies within.

These enemies would like to think that this is the beginning of the end for him and that he can kiss his dream of becoming Mentri Besar goodbye. There is also talk that he will be challenged for the No.2 post at the next party election.

Meanwhile, his detractors have gone to town to taunt him on this. They have been sending cyber-pamphlets via MMS bearing Azmin’s mugshot with the heading “Hilang (Missing)” and the message: “Lelaki ini telah menghilangkan diri dari rumah ibunya selama 9 bulan. Sesiapa yang terlibat atau menemui lelaki ini sila hubungi 015 5955103”. It was a cheeky prank about him going missing from his mother’s house over the last nine months and asking those with information to contact what looks like fictitious number.

But Azmin is not taking things lying down despite the sulking and the complaining.

He was seated at the VIP table at a gala fund-raising dinner at a five-star hotel in Selangor last week. He knew all eyes were on him because the dinner took place just days after reports about the photographs. He did not get to address the diners although he is the Selangor PKR chairman. Only Anwar and Khalid gave speeches while secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution made the opening remarks.

But Azmin spent the entire evening moving from table to table – there were 156 tables – greeting people, chatting, smiling and connecting.

“He put up a good front. If not for the PKR members there telling him to be strong and to challenge the allegations, you would not suspect that there was a problem,” said one of those at the dinner.

Azmin has a stony face and he is not a natural smiler. It is often hard to tell if he is happy, angry or sad. But of late, he has been smiling like never before. He is either trying to put on a brave front to show people that he is not down, or he is on a charm campaign because he needs friends at times like this.

Political nightmare: Azmin has been quite overwhelmed by allegations of a sex tryst and he is angry that party leaders have not made more effort to defend what he calls ‘fitnah Umno’.

When reporters persisted in asking about his family life at another function, he wore a fixed smile while repeating, “elections is very near,” meaning that he is a victim of politics.

Only Zuraidah, his most loyal of loyalists, has gone to the extent of declaring that she does not believe Azmin is the man in the photographs.

Zuraidah, arguably the loudest and most aggressive woman in PKR, has been his biggest defender. She even chastised Khalid for his “no comment” remark. She also cautioned the Selangor Mentri Besar to be more careful when commenting on this issue although, technically speaking, Khalid had not commented.

Even as people in the party are dishing out the standard blame line that this is “politik jelek (gutter politics)” and the work of Umno, they are actually quite jittery about what will come next.

The photographs of the woman and the man whom Azmin says is not him appear to have come from hidden cameras which means there is a video out there that may pose a bigger headache for the party. PKR leaders are concerned that Azmin does not have the aura of Anwar to defend himself in the face of more “evidence”.

Some say the recent episodes have shifted the balance of power in the party. Having to fight off such allegations so close to the general election will handicap Azmin at a time when he needs all the clout he can muster to have the upper hand on candidates and seats.

Others say the real power lies in Anwar’s hands and that as long as Azmin enjoys the trust and confidence of Anwar, he will get what he wants, including his dream job.

But that is assuming he can survive this awful episode and what lies ahead.