Monday, June 21, 2010
The second killing of Eli Wong and the Salehuddin saboteurs
It must have been déjà vu for Bukit Lanjan assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong when news reports started to suddenly resurface about her so-called sex scandal a week ago.
According to PKR insiders, this time around, the people stirring up the bad vibes were not former Selangor MB Khir Toyo – at least not visibly – but her former PKR colleagues led by ex-secretary-general Salehuddin Hashim.
“I think it is quite clear by now Salehuddin was working both sides of the fence when he was with PKR. At that time of the Eli scandal, his faction tried to take advantage of the situation and put one of John Soh’s ex-MCA men into the Selangor exco,” a PKR source told Malaysia Chronicle.
“That was more than a year ago. Then Salehuddin was still a PKR guy and Khir Toyo was not as disgraced as he is now and still overseeing the toppling of the Selangor Pakatan state government. But they can’t really touch Eli anymore because she has done a fine job. What they are trying to do is to slash down Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s credibility through her and to rile up the conservative Muslims against Pakatan.”
Indeed, many political watchers were surprised when Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Hashim suddenly reprised the Eli episode. Zahrain quit PKR earlier this year to form an independent bloc with other recalcitrant colleagues including sacked Kulim Bandar Baharu’s Zulkifli Noordin, Wangsamaju’s Wee Choo Keong, Nibong Tebal’s Tan Tee Beng and Bagan Serai’s Fadzli Samsuri.
Calling themselves Konsensus Bebas, they are widely seen to be a thinly-veiled mouthpiece for Umno. And it is believed that Salehuddin - who appeared at the various press conferences announcing their quit-PKR decisions – had brokered their switch in allegiance.
Salehuddin's close ally in PKR was John Soh, a tycoon who also has strong links to MCA. It is unclear if Soh is still a PKR member as even Umno blogger Rocky’s Bru has noted that Soh’s online news portal FreeMalaysiaToday was pro-BN.
“It has been reported that Umno set up a RM50 million defection fund. Prime Minister Najib Razak paid through his nose to get these guys to cross over so that he could discredit PKR and Anwar in particular,” the source said.
“But what Najib paid for was rubbish. So to keep Umno grassroots from grumbling and the tempo going, the group has rehashed the Eli issue and just over the weekend, you can see Utusan obediently picking up the thread and accusing Anwar of being an unfit Muslim leader."
Arousing Muslim sentiment against Eli
In February 2009, Eli, the Selangor executive councilor for tourism, environment and consumer affairs, went public with a threat aimed at blackmailing her through the distribution of photos taken while she was in a sleeping pose and clad in a sarong.
The insinuation was clear – resign or face greater humiliation by having a purported sex video tape and more intimate photos splashed all over the media. But the plucky Eli refused to hide. Although she tendered her resignation, she exposed the scam and lodged police reports.
“As a PKR member, she had to explain to Anwar and Wan Azizah what happened. They were the ones who stood by her and told her not to resign on the spur of the moment but to go on leave and let the police find out who were the culprits,” said the source.
Two months later, Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim – supported by Anwar and PKR president Wan Azizah – rejected Eli’s resignation and asked her to remain in the Selangor executive council. Police investigations had found that only two photos of her taken with a cell-phone had been distributed, while the other pictures that appeared in cyberspace and other magazines were ‘doctored’.
There was also no sign of any sex video tape and the incident faded despite heated attempts by Khir Toyo to fan Muslim sentiment against her and jeer Pakatan’s Islamist-based partner PAS into taking action against her.
Afraid of what Anwar may reveal
Nevertheless, that has not stopped Zahrain from alleging that Anwar had at that time told PKR leaders that he wanted Eli out of the party and that he would soon expose a video tape of her.
“I remember how he lied to us on the sex scandal involving YB Elizabeth Wong from Bukit Lanjan.When the scandal was at its peak, he called us for a meeting telling us that Elizabeth Wong must resign as executive councilor and assemblywoman," Zahrain told the press last week.
Not only has Eli slammed Zahrain for resorting to “gutter politics” to get back at Anwar, other Pakatan leaders have also taken him and his cohorts to task.
“I think it is very clear that Zahrain and his Konsensus Bebas are afraid because Anwar has said he will soon expose their misdeeds to the public. They are scared and this is how they retaliate. It s a reflection of their mindset and low mentality. I think it was a real blessing for PKR when they left because Pakatan doesn’t need this sort trash,” PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar told Malaysia Chronicle.
DESIDERATA: Some of the events touched Desi at close hand, some were remote, some were subtle, and some vicious. YES, the enemies within are more dangerous from outside. PKR leaders had better watch out for the party has been well penetrated. I will ***tell my story from tomorrow, God willing/InsyaAllah!:) OR :(
DESIDERATA2: My apologies that I cannot ***"tell my story" as yet; be patient eh as Ms Patient is also Ms, Mr Virtuous:)
No comments:
Post a Comment