Zaid may drown in liquor allegations

When announcing BN's candidacy in the Hulu Selangor by-election, coalition deputy chairperson Muhyiddin Yasin said that their candidate, P Kamalanathan, is a man without baggage.

He added that this was unlike PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim who has a chequered track record, and skeletons in the closet which Muhyiddin promised to expose.

And as promised, barely a day into the campaign period, BN has already made their moves on Malay voters who make the majority in the Hulu Selangor by-election at 52.74 percent.

Chinese voters comprise 26.3 percent, Indians 19.31 percent, and others 1.65 percent.

In their first wave of attacks BN raised the issue surrounding Zaid's morality, in an attempt to break down the credibility he has attained since parting ways with Umno.

So intense was the pressure laid on by BN yesterday that Zaid was pushed, when questioned by media, to admit to some of these allegations.

Top of the list of attacks  are allegations that Zaid ( furthest left ) consumes alcohol, which is forbidden in Islam and undermines his identity as a Muslim and a ‘man of principle'.

As evidence, moments before the nomination process began Kuala Kubu Baru was hit with posters of a doctored image of Zaid with what appeared to be an alcoholic drink.

The mainstream media is also hot on the issue, with Utusan Malaysia leading their Sunday edition today with PKR vice president Azmin Ali challenging BN to prove that Zaid is a kaki botol (alcoholic).

The character assassination continued with BN-friendly bloggers posting entries implying that Zaid is a womaniser.

They also highlighted that as a BN MP in Kota Baru, he had supported the use of lotteries to raise funds for sports organisations. Gambling is also forbidden in Islam.

BN also assaulted his ‘Islamic-ness' by unearthing a civil suit which Zaid filed against the Kelantan and Terengganu governments in 2002, for passing the hudud law, which he claimed goes against theFederal Constitution.

Although Zaid dropped the suit weeks after, BN is using the issue to paint the picture of a man of questionable faith.

Worse still, Kelantan and Terengganu were at that time governed by PAS, which is a partner party to PKR in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

How, they asked, could PAS align themselves with such dubious morals.

Pakatan blindsided by BN

The severity of the damage which this round of morality attacks could do to the PKR campaign cannot be underestimated.

Hulu Selangor is a semi-rural constituency and most of its Malay-Muslim voters are located in villages and Felda settlements located further in the interiors of Selangor.

As such, they are believed to have a more conservative perspective on religion and morality and would not sway easily towards a candidate made out to have doubtful morals.

Understanding this, Pakatan Rakyat top guns have come out in Zaid's defence.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Wang ( above, centre ) yesterday fell short of denying the claims by saying that Zaid is a "changed man".

Likewise in a ceramah in Kerling last night, PKR vice president Mustaffa Kamil Ayub said that even second caliph Umar al-Khattab had transgressed before converting to Islam but was still a revered leader.

Selangor MB and PKR treasurer Khalid Ibrahim, however, turned the tables on Umno.

He responded by saying that Umno leaders are not any different, with former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad's son reported to own shares in the beer company San Miguel.

Yesterday, cornered by the media, Zaid admitted that he had consumed alcohol in his younger days, but as Abdul Hadi said, he has repented since joining PKR and especially since performing the Haj recently.

"I've already said that when I was young, I did a lot of things that are not right. I've done that, I've explained so many times.

"But I've changed now that I'm part of Pakatan Rakyat."

Speaking to reporters this morning, PKR Wanita Chief Fuziah Salleh said that BN should be "ashamed" of using "very very dirty" tricks to attack a man who has repented.

"God can accept someone's repentance. Man should not be the judge," she said.

Party strategy chief Tian Chua ( right ) said that the only reason BN is using these under-the-belt tactics is that they are "bankrupt of ideas".

"They don't know what to tell the people because after three terms (in Hulu Selangor) they have done nothing. They only tell us not to drink," he said.

Whether or not this explanation is enough to neutralise the attacks, at this juncture, is anyone's guess.

If anything, Pakatan's response appears to be a knee-jerk and the coalition seems to have been blindsided by BN, expecting only to respond to allegations of corruption that Zaid himself has explained to a reasonable degree.

Pakatan may lose the morality war

The morality war, it appears, continue to be waged in the Malay heartlands of the area, with Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam yesterday telling Felda settlers in Sungai Tengi that Zaid was not a teetotaler in his younger days.

The furore where Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong had initimate photos of her circulated in cyberspace  was also brought up.

It was used to bring Zaid down, faulting him for defending Wong in the matter.

Ali responded by asking the audience "Who, among you, has seen the nude photos of Elizabeth Wong?"

Still, in Islam, a Muslim who claims to be one but does not truly have faith is considered a munafik (hypocrite).

Incidentally, this is the same label which highly-respected international Muslim scholar Yusof Qardawi used to describe those involved in sodomy allegations against PKR de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

And between a seemingly hypocritical Malay/Muslim, who has repented or not, and a non-Muslim candidate, it may not be too hard to imagine Hulu Selangor Malays going with the second option.