By Syed Jaymal Zahiid (Malaysian Insider)
PERMATANG PASIR, Aug 21 – With Pakatan Rakyat applying pressure on BN candidate Rohaizat Othman to withdraw from the Permatang Pasir by-election because his disbarment makes him “tainted”, he has been forced to go on the campaign trail to clear his name.

Last night, at a ceramah alongside other BN youth leaders, the disbarred lawyer begged the people there not to pay attention to the attacks on his professional past, dismissing them mere attempts to discredit him personally.
“This is the culture of Pakatan Rakyat (PR). They attack my private life, it’s character assassination,” said Rohaizat.
“I have already explained myself but the attacks on me continue. They are lies. Now they have come up with a new lie. Now, they say I have a second wife who is not receiving alimony from me,” said the Umno man.
Rohaizat said he was shocked when a reporter asked him about it.
“It has come down to this. More personal attacks against me. This is the culture of PR. First, they attack my past and after I have explained myself, they come up with another lie and even if I defend myself on the second accusation, they would come up with another lie,” lamented the Umno man.
But Rohaizat has yet to respond to the allegations made by his former legal firm partner, Yusri Ishak, who appeared yesterday to deny allegations made by Umno leaders that he had caused Rohaizat’s disbarment.
Rohaizat was disbarred last year after he was found guilty by the Bar Council’s disciplinary board of misconduct after failing to return money belonging to the Penang Rubber Smallholders Cooperative intended for land purchase.
Umno leaders, however, insist that their man is innocent, saying that Rohaizat was a “victim of circumstances” as Yusri was the one that ran away with the money.
The Bar Council has clarified that lawyers are not liable for their partner’s misconduct.