The tussle for the presidency of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak is a normal affair. With so many political parties in the country today, an internal party conflict seems to occur every other year. So far, no party from the almighty Umno to the struggling PPP has been spared of such infighting.

However, the struggle between Joseph Kurup and Dr Jeffrey Kitingan for the leadership of the Sabah-based PBRS took on a new, shocking twist. The two politicians went overboard with their personal attacks on each other.

I feel that getting personal in politics is the lowest politicians can stoop to in their quest for fame, position and power. When they go down to that level, politicians must realise that they have more to lose than gain. For one, people will have little or no respect left for them.

It is unfortunate and sad that the power struggle between Kurup and Jeffrey has reached the unprecedented level of going for the kill through character assassination.

Two days before the party congress, Kurup suspended Jeffrey alleging, among other things, that the latter was morally unfit to be a PBRS leader.

He revealed that a police report had been lodged against Jeffrey for an alleged extramarital affair with a married woman.

Jeffrey retaliated the following day and accused Kurup of having sex with an under aged girl 37 years ago.

Jeffrey also released a Sabah Times cutting of the report in 1965 in which Kurup had to compensate the girl's family according to the native customary laws at that time.

Mere mortals

A national daily had a field time publishing the two sex-related stories on two consecutive days. To the newspapers, they were juicy stories. To readers, they would probably get a good laugh over the reports.

But to Kurup and Jeffrey, the allegations were damaging to their political careers. Their reputations have been severely dented. And who can they blame but themselves!

Why did they get personal with each other in the first place? And to the extent of probing into each other's private lives and exposing personal indiscretions publicly.

When asked by reporters on the extramarital affair, Jeffrey merely replied that it was a personal matter. Kurup kept mum about his sin alleged to have been committed when he was 21 years old.

Assuming that the allegations were true, is anyone really surprised? What is an extramarital affair these days? John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton were great leaders but look at their private lives.

While politicians, being public figures, should behave above board and set high moral standards, they are still mere mortals with weaknesses like anybody else. I wouldn't judge those who falter along the way.

As for the 21-year-old Kurup in 1965, he was just like any young man his age who had probably just discovered his libido and never thought about the age of his partner. I would forgive him as I would forgive my son for that lapse in judgement.

I think Jeffrey was not being fair at all for attacking Kurup for an alleged offence committed two generations ago. Kurup's children and grandchildren are probably very disappointed with their father and grandfather now.

And what about the feelings of the underaged girl who probably is married with children and grandchildren of her own now? I hope Jeffrey's conscience has been pricked.

Generally sensible

Then again, Kurup should not have brought up Jeffrey's alleged love affair in the first place. In the tussle for power and position, politicians must inflict maximum damage on the opponents and Jeffrey merely acted on that impulse. Still, that should not be the excuse.

Both acted stupidly and deserved to be where they are now — in a mess. They brought public humiliation upon themselves and both should learn well from this episode.

In a lot of ways, I think that our Malaysian politicians are generally sensible and sober and hardly get personal with each other i.e. as far as their private lives are concerned.

At worst, such gossip and talk are confined to the coffee shops and clubs and through anonymous postings on the Internet. It has never reached the level of the recent PBRS episode in Sabah.

I recall an incident in the 1991 Sarawak state election when two opponents in Kuching made a gentleman's agreement before the election not to attack each other on their personal lives during the campaign.

One of them told me. "We know each other inside out. Our private lives are no secret to each other. So it is best we keep our private lives private".

They kept to their agreement. The two politicians probably had many skeletons in their closets and they did what was best for them. It does pay for political opponents to 'understand' each other better sometimes.

Naive and innocent

There was another incident in the 1999 general elections when a Sarawak member of parliament had to face allegations of a sexual nature.

During the campaign period, the MP's former lover went to the press with an affidavit alleging that the MP dumped her after he made her pregnant. He allegedly forced her to have an abortion later.

The woman also revealed details of how the MP brought her to Kuala Lumpur in 1997 where he would attend parliament sittings during the day and conduct sex trysts with her at night.

The woman said she decided to reveal all after the MP reneged on his promise to marry her. She also wanted to prevent the MP from taking advantage of other vulnerable women.

I am still holding a copy of the woman's affidavit and as I read through it again three years later (for the sake of this article) and I tend to believe her. She was only 24 in 1997, fair, pretty and possibly, naive and innocent as well. A likely target for any man out looking for fun.

The MP can count his blessings that the newspapers in Sarawak chose not to reveal his identity when the woman's affidavit was published. Readers were left with the guessing game and the MP went on to defend his seat successfully that year.

While this episode could be construed as a personal attack on a politician, it was not conducted in similar fashion as the Kurup-Jeffrey incident. Nevertheless, it should not have been made during the elections although the allegations were from a third party. Good and honest motives then became questionable.

Chances reduced

Apart from this recent isolated case in Sarawak, I am happy that the majority of our politicians do not attack each other on their private lives. Even in the heat of an intense election campaign, most of them are still able to exercise wisdom and decorum. This political culture should be nurtured.

As for the two JKs (Joseph Kurup and Jeffrey Kitingan), most Sabahans probably would not care which one is the rightful PBRS president.

What they do care about, I am sure, is whether such politicians who stoop so low as to wash their dirty linen in public and resort to character assassination are fit to become the chief minister of Sabah.

By their carelessness and irrationality, Kurup and Jeffrey may have unknowingly reduced their chances of fulfilling their ambition to become the next Sabah chief executive.

Getting personal in politics certainly does not pay.

FRANCIS SIAH is a former Sarawak newspaper editor and is now a columnist for several publications. He is also the former secretary-general of the State Reform Party of Sarawak (Star).