Pakatan Rakyat leaders want the police to act on recent hints that they may charge the Datuk T trio for distributing pornigraphic material, accusing the Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar of unprofessional conduct and trying to smear Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in the runup to last weekend's Sarawak state elctions.
They also want the police to conduct a full-scale probe on who were the master-minds behind the elaborate scam that involved senior editors of the goverment-controlled mainstream media.
"The Omega watch is to create an impression that Anwar had done something wrong. There are no legal grounds at all to probe Anwar. The investigation is irrelevant and they just made the video for the sake of trying to create an impression of Anwar's involvement. The only issue here is to charge the trio," PAS MP for Kuala Krai Hatta Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.
The video showing a man who resembles Anwar having sex with a prostitute had shaken the nation earlier this month. The video emerged out of the blue and the three men calling themselves the Datuk T trio said they 'discovered' it and wanted to expose Anwar's promiscuity. They screened the tape to journalists and select PKR leaders in a bid to discredit Anwar, who has denied any involvement in the video.
“The man looks like Anwar but when I looked at the man's body and physique, I am convinced the man is definitely not him,” Anwar's wife and PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told a dinner audience in Perak on Tuesday night.
Gutter politics
The three men are former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Abdullah and former Perkasa treasurer Shuaib Lazim. In the past few days, they have offered to take the blame for the tape, saying that no one else should be incriminated.
"That they are hiding the truth and covering for the ruling elite is obvious. Look at the timing, one by one they are coming out to take the fall. It is very coincidental," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
Indeed, the finger has been pointed at PM Najib - Anwar's arch rival. Political watchers believe the Umno elite wanted to use the tape to discredit Anwar for the Sarawak election that was held on April 16. And then to continue the pressure by launching a Royal Commission of Inquiry so as to keep the public reminded about the scandal during the runup to the General Election.
Don't blame anyone but us
But the plan backfired badly with Malaysians repulsed by the obvious unfairness and conspiracy against Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It also failed to dent Anwar's popularity as the crowds continued to flock to his rallies In Sarawak, where his party won three new seats.
The BN lost 15 seats although it managed to retain the Sarawak state government. Because of the weaker than expected results, Najib is seen deferring the GE till next year, pundits have said.
As if on cue, the police on Monday and Tuesday made statements to the effect that there was no reason to probe Anwar and that they may charge the three men for distributing pornographic material.
This was in sharp contrast to the IGP, who with days to go to the Saturday balloting, had said the identity of the man in the tape had been discovered and they were now trying to verify the ownership of the Omega watch. The Datuk T trio had said Anwar left the watch behind at the hotel room where the video was shot.
"It is an obvious case of the police playing politics. They simply create a sea of doubts before the elections so that people will say that Anwar is involved in the video. We do not want any unprofessional intervention in this case," Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah told Malaysia Chronicle.
- Malaysia Chronicle
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