KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A leading Malaysian opposition member's admission that he drank alcohol in his youth triggered an uneasy debate Monday over whether many politicians might be privately consuming liquor, which is illegal for Muslims in the country.
Zaid Ibrahim, a former law minister, was forced to confront a whisper campaign that questioned whether he was morally fit for public office after he was chosen to contest an upcoming special election to fill a vacant Parliament seat.
The 59-year-old politician _ considered a potential successor to Malaysia's top opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim _ acknowledged over the weekend that he consumed liquor when he was younger, but insisted he has since repented.
It was a rare public confession by a senior political figure in Malaysia, where Muslims caught drinking can be jailed, fined or whipped lightly with a rattan cane under Islamic Shariah laws. About 60 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Muslim. The others are ethnic Chinese and Indians who follow a variety of faiths.
Ruling party politicians told hundreds of voters at a rally late Sunday that they should reject Zaid for being a "drunkard" whom they claimed kept whisky and beer at home.
Zaid, however, said he "won't name those leaders in (the government) who had done the same" by consuming alcohol.
The independent Malaysian Insider news website said in a commentary Monday that the personal attacks against Zaid were evidence of "hypocrisy" in Malaysian politics.
"If those who drink alcohol shouldn't run for public office, (the ruling coalition) will be hard pressed to replace some in its front bench," the website said.
Photographs that appear to depict Muslim government politicians drinking have occasionally surfaced on the Internet, though none has been confirmed to be authentic.
The topic of Muslims who drink gained wide attention after a former female model was sentenced to caning last July after being detained by morality police at a beach restaurant for drinking beer. Her sentence was commuted to community service after a public uproar over whether Islamic conservatives were intruding into people's personal lives.
Zaid's confession could have a big impact on the April 25 by-election in the constituency of Hulu Selangor just north of Kuala Lumpur. Slightly more than half of the 64,500 voters are ethnic Malay Muslims, and the opposition narrowly won the seat in 2008 general elections. The by-election is being held after the incumbent recently died.
The ballot is being closely watched because it could signal whether Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration is regaining public support, one year after he took power following a poor performance by the long-entrenched ruling coalition in the 2008 elections.
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