Malaysia elections : Sex, sabotage and videotape in Malaysian campaign
AFP
Sunday, Apr 21, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's ruling establishment has been accused of resorting to "gutter politics" as a bruising election campaign starts amid outrage over sex videos and opposition charges of sabotage.
The May 5 vote looks to be a typically hard-fought and polarising Malaysian election as a 56-year-old regime faces the fight of its life against a rising opposition.
But analysts warn negative tactics in the campaign that officially began on Saturday could backfire on the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).
Premier Najib Razak had pledged to oversee a civil election run but advocates for a clean campaign have cried foul over alleged improprieties in what one group has warned will be Malaysia's "dirtiest election ever".
A top figure in an opposition Islamic party in the Muslim-majority nation was forced recently to deny involvement over an online video claiming to show him in a tryst with a young woman.
The opposition said more such videos were expected, including one purportedly involving Nurul Izzah Anwar, the parliamentarian daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was himself targeted in a 2011 sex video claim.
Reports of election violence have mounted, mostly involving attacks on opposition supporters, with one man reportedly in a coma after being beaten.
Adverts have run in some areas suggesting the opposition would impose Islamic law on non-Muslims, which the opposition decries as dangerous religious fear-mongering.
