WHEN there were hints that Umno may skip contesting in Penanti I don't think many anticipated that issues linked to the by-election would turn as gossipy as what we have seen the last few days. How could any election be interesting without the involvement of Umno or the Barisan Nasional?

We were all wrong. Providing enough news to fill up a couple of newspaper pages everyday about a Penanti without Umno is none other than independent candidate Aminah Abdullah, a former Penang PKR Wanita head. That many high PKR officials see it necessary to react to claims coming from her and issue statements meant to discredit her or make her look small to me is proof enough that Aminah cannot be ignored.

The conversation that she said took place between her and one PKR supreme council member and an aide to a Penang politician can now be heard and read at many sources online. Until yesterday quite a few characters had said that they would not let her get away with her "allegations" about offers of a post in the Penang government and also of cash. Go through the recording and decide for yourself if Aminah had lost her way and had told us a load of rubbish. Will those who said they would take Aminah to court do it now? I doubt it.

What I read some hours ago not only included the parts about the offers but also revealed some inside information about the problems within Penang PKR which the party may not want to admit. The central characters are all there and the comments made make sense after taking into account what we have read so far about the political infighting there. There's Zahrain, Malik and Mansor. No one's been left out.

For many years now and especially since the 12th general election on March 8 last year, Umno and those who work and associate with it have been turned into a laughing stock online. Every statement, every problem facing an Umno man, every allegation was "proof" of how low Umno has gone down to. On the other side is a loose grouping of parties with very diverse beliefs and objectives which its supporters maintain is whiter than white. It is a grouping without sleaze, its every move above board and without the politicking and back-stabbing that is associated with Umno.

Beyond the offers Aminah talked about, what the recording tells us is that the grass is not always greener on the other side. It is proof that politics within the Pakatan Rakyat can be just as sleazy. Maybe this is the breather Perak needs -- to have the focus shifted up north for a while.

CAN'T WAIT
BUT one man who definitely wants to go to court is opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. He has filed a suit against Foreign Minister Anifah Aman for claiming that he was offered goodies by Anwar if he was willing to defect to Pakatan last year.

I like court cases for the simple reason that people can say almost anything they want and it gets reported in the press for the whole world to know. In this case I hope Anifah will not back out and apologise because it will deprive us of some inside stories which otherwise we will never know.

A court case will surely reveal something about Anwar's failed attempt to form the federal government on September 16 last year. Maybe Anifah too has a recording of any conversation he may have had on Anwar about this. Who knows?