'New politics may backfire
This unsolicited defence by Keadilan does not address the fundamental issue why an expose of truth about a politician's sexual peccadilloes and deviance through the media which is a kind of investigative journalism is unacceptable in a free society that we pretend to be. (It is done all over the world, even in the democracies).
If the allegations were mere falsehoods, writer Khalid Jafri would be sued for libel and defamation. He was however reportedly prepared to defend on justification of truth.
So what exactly is Keadilan against?
"Khalid should make a complaint to the police and the Anti-Corruption Agency. The right systems and mechanisms should be used to arrive at the truth," added Wanita Keadilan deputy president Irene Fernandez who was also present at the press conference.
Since when, it may be asked, has Keadilan this kind of trust in our police and Anti-Corruption Agency as the "right systems and mechanisms" for the truth to be arrived at having as far as I recall denigrated these institutions as instruments of state power and cover up in respect of the Anwar's cases?
It is highly inconsistent, and hardly serving of its main patron's cause to say that our police and ACA are the "right systems and mechanisms" for ferreting the truth in Azalina's and all others' cases but not so for Anwar!
So what exactly is Keadilan's objection then? That exposing personal sexual peccadilloes and deviance of a politician through the media is wrong even when the allegations are true, and the one who made these (whether for the sake of truth or in assistance of political opponents) are prepared to face court action and prove his allegation?
This is dangerously close to saying that the sexual peccadilloes and deviance of a politician, even if true, are private and inviolate and should not be exposed through the media. This involves the corollary that performance of public office should not be measured by private sexual inclination and orientation. So is this Keadilan's new politics?
If so, it is very enlightened and liberal, and I wholly support it.
For it is even more progressive than the scandal proned liberal democracies of USA (Clinton Lewinsky) and UK (Profumo's scandal).
This new politics will represent a total paradigm shift from the politics of hypocrisy prevailing here, and probably in other places as well, by which it is not wrong for a politician to be human and have sexual peccadilloes and deviance but it is only wrong to get exposed and caught without means of cover up.
In predominantly Muslim Malaysia, and following ex deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's fall from grace on sodomy/abuse of power convictions, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad even said, according to Reuters, that he would expel any gay British government minister if he came to Malaysia with a boyfriend!
I doubt Keadilan's new politics is that liberal and go that far to condemn investigative media's exposure of true private sexual scandals involving politicians.
It may be sleaze to expose a politician's personal private sexual life, destroying families and careers in the process, but the media is overridingly concerned with only that which is newsworthy subject to it being true rather than the consequences of exposure from moral perspectives, which in any case are debatable having regard to the public's right to know.
The implicit assumption is that like a person who cannot stand the heat should not aspire to be a cook, so a politician cannot demand privacy of his sexual deviance if he aspires public office!
Keadilan has to be very careful in defending the Puteri Umnochief against the tactics of persons in likes of Khalid Jafri.
If Keadilan's defence is not really based on:
Then the only reasonable inference is that Keadilan's real motive of defending Azalina is because she is attacked by the same "common enemy" of Anwar in the person of Khalid Jafri who authored 50 Dalil mengapa Anwar tidak boleh jadi PM (50 reasons why Anwar Ibrahim cannot become the PM).
The other thing suggested by Keadilan is that both Anwar and Azalina have political opponents whose cause had been served by such an attack.
What however Keadilan fails to realise is that the problem presently faced by the Azalina in relation to Khalid Jafri's tactics may not vindicate Anwar, and instead may have the opposite effect if for whatever reason Azalina fails to sue the publisher, keeps mum and resigns.
For such an unfolding of events may give rise to public impression that Khalid Jafri's allegations, no matter how distasteful, are probably based on some research and contain an element of truth, and if his methods of "investigative expose" could yield some truth of Azalina, so it could equally have been the case in respect of Anwar.
This is what Keadilan should be careful about in recklessly jumping into the bandwagon in defence of the Puteri Umno chief so that, as a matter of public relations, its agenda of defending its defacto chief may be thought served.
This is not new politics but old politics of Keadilan to serve its defacto chief's cause. The trouble is it may backfire.
The purpose of this letter is strictly intended to examine the nature and wisdom of Keadilan's new politics.
It is not meant to prejudge the merits or otherwise of Khalid Jafri's allegations, and no aspersion is intended for Azalina to whom, irrespective of the truth or falsehoods of the allegations, I can only feel sympathy for having her private life intruded, and standing assailed in such a brutal manner.
