"The 30-minute video, which showed the supposedly high profile MP in compromising positions, is set to rock the Malaysian political arena," The Star said after its reporter was shown the clip at a hotel. The video "had sharp images and the woman appeared to be a fair-skinned foreigner, possibly an East Asian", it said. It was apparently recorded Feb 21.

Journalists were taken to a hotel room individually to view the footage by a group of people led by a man who wanted to be known only as Datuk T. Datuk is a traditional Malaysian title. Datuk T said he wanted the media to watch the footage before sending a copy to the man and his wife.

If the individual in the video was in fact the politician, "then he and his wife must step down from politics", Datuk T said. Datuk T said the accused politician was not "the pious person with high moral values and integrity as portrayed, and therefore is not fit to be a leader".

He said if the two did not quit politics, "I will call on several NGOs to set up an independent panel to investigate and seek professional forensic services to study the authenticity of the recordings". After news of the footage surfaced, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, communications director of the main opposition party PKR, tweeted saying the video was doctored.

Sex scandals have in the past rocked the Malaysian political scene. Anwar Ibrahim, who leads the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat and the PKR, is on trial on charge of sodomising a male aide. Former health minister Chua Soi Lek resigned three years ago after a video showed him having sex with a friend.