Umno will lose next elections if graft is left unchecked, Dr Mahathir warns | By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief, Singapore Straits Times |
KUALA LUMPUR - THE unusually long campaign period for this Umno election is churning up increasing allegations of money politics, but critics say the party is not taking it seriously enough.
Former premier Mahathir Mohamad recently weighed in with his strong views when he wrote in his blog that the party will lose the next general election if it does not check internal corruption that is becoming excessive. 'Corruption in Umno at all levels has become a talking point for everyone. They are sick and tired of Umno, its members and leaders. The hatred towards the party that is immoral has spread wide,' he wrote. According to him, only division heads received money previously, but lower-level members have now wised up and will offer their support only if they are paid. Tun Dr Mahathir said they realised that those who win party elections will go on to receive government posts, directorships and contracts worth millions. 'The ordinary party member who voted for them, what do they get? With this realisation, they feel they should also benefit,' he wrote. He penned this after the outspoken Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said that the top Umno posts might as well be tendered out to the highest bidder, given the widespread corruption in the party. Mr Syed Nadzri, a senior editor of the New Straits Times, agrees. 'And sadly, he was not the first to use the analogy. Former deputy president Tun Ghafar Baba once even provided the quotations, saying tenders for division chief could start at a reserve price of RM50,000,' he wrote in a column yesterday. He wrote that it always seemed impossible to get enough evidence to punish the guilty, but it was up to Umno to decide if the issue was serious, and added: 'But there has to be a strong will. Many in the party are getting cynical about the whole issue. But then who's to blame?' Money politics, or political corruption, has become a hot topic as the Umno elections go into full swing. More than half of the party's 191 divisions have met to make nominations for the election of the top posts, to be held in March. So far, Deputy Premier Najib Razak has taken all 105 nominations for the president's post, while Minister of International Trade and Industry Muhyiddin Yassin is the front runner for the deputy's position. No other contender has qualified to contest the deputy presidency yet. By convention, these two posts also bring with them the positions of prime minister and deputy prime minister of Malaysia. The stakes are high because the imminent retirement of Premier Abdullah Badawi has opened up vacancies in top party ranks. Dr Mahathir, whose son Mukhriz Mahathir is contesting the Youth Chief's post, wrote that he had received many reports on money politics. He said people had given Datuk Seri Abdullah an overwhelming mandate in 2004, but saw that his administration had brought widespread corruption and economic troubles. They punished the Barisan Nasional in the March polls, he charged, and would now be very dismayed to see that money politics was rife. He said there was talk that each of the 2,500 delegates to the Umno assembly - who hold the final vote - could get up to RM20,000 each for their vote. Umno disciplinary board chairman Tengku Ahmad Rithaudeen recently said he had heard of some branch heads, for example in Kelantan, receiving enough to buy a new Kancil car - which costs RM30,000 to RM40,000. He blamed this on the long campaign period, and the reluctance of party members to lodge reports with the disciplinary board. 'In fact, there are some who want more candidates to contest a certain post as it means that they would be able to collect more money,' he said. The Umno election this time is unusually long as the nominations are being made now, but voting will take place only in March when the main assembly is held. It was originally scheduled to be held in December but was moved to March to allow a graceful retirement for Mr Abdullah. There are now attempts to move it back to the original dates to prevent excessive campaigning, and the Umno Supreme Council will meet tomorrow to discuss this. However, former Perak menteri besar Tajol Rosli Ghazali yesterday disagreed that a four-month campaign period would be detrimental. 'The longer the campaign period, the fewer chances there are for money politics as it is not easy to 'look after' people for months,' he said. 'This time around, people want to know the candidates personally. Hence, to say that a person can win because of money is not accurate.' Dr Mahathir also wrote in his blog yesterday that Mr Najib should not repeat Mr Abdullah's mistake in hiring young advisers dubbed the Level Four, in reference to their offices on the fourth floor of the Prime Minister's Office. 'I was told that Najib also has very influential young advisers. They have close ties to the son-in-law of Abdullah and Level Four. They are, in fact, from the same group,' he wrote.
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