Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar has rejected calls for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate the authenticity of a sex video purportedly showing a prominent opposition politician.

NONE Calling it unnecessary, he also said that the issue is not one befitting for the Agong to consent to setting up an RCI.

"With an RCI, it is a royal commission that is set up with (the) mandate from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, from which a report will be presented to him directly.

"So do we really want a royal commission on a sex video?

"There should be a benchmark from other RCIs, which were previously formed to investigate police abuse of power, VK Lingam's tape which concerned the independence of judiciary, and the beating of a former deputy prime minister.

"This sex tape is so sordid, would you want to put the king's name to it?

"I don't want to denigrate the king... there is no need to drag the institution of the monarchy into this," he said.

The 22-minute video had allegedly shown a man resembling PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim having sexual intercourse with a purported prostitute.

azlan The video was shown to several journalists on Monday and it was revealed yesterday that the it was former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Perkasa treasurer-general Shuib Lazim who were behind the ‘expose’.

In their press conference yesterday, they had also called for an RCI to be set up to determine the authenticity of the video.

However, Khairy - also the Rembau MP - said that there should be an independent panel investigating the video.

"If it is in the interests of the public, and they want to know the authenticity of the video and that it is an accusation against someone who is not a 'dwarf' or a non-entity, but an opposition leader, we need someone independent and integrity to examine the video," he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the BN Youth job fair at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, he also said that the panel should be made up of forensic experts.

'Umno not involved in video'

Khairy also slammed accusations that the ruling BN coalition and Umno were responsible for the video.

“These are wild and baseless allegations. We cannot assume that this is the work of Umno. Rahim did not act on behalf of Umno. He acted with his friends (to show the video).

“Please don’t involve Umno and BN. There may be pockets of people from Umno asking for an RCI but I am in the political bureau, I am the Youth chief and am one of the vice-presidents of Umno, and I can safely say that we are not involved,” he said.

Rahim, apart from being former CM, is also a former Umno Youth chief. He is the current chairperson of the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda), a government agency under the plantation industries ministry.

Adding that he is personally ‘uncomfortable’ with the whole issue, Khairy said that the issue does not abode well for the political landscape of the country.

“It does not give a good impression to the younger generation over what is happening in politics and sex. It looks as if our politics in this country is so teruk (awful).

“We want to give aspirations to the young to trust in the political and democratic process, to respect the leaders. This is despicable to the young. The longer it drags on, it may in the end tarnish Malaysia’s image internationally,” he said.

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