SHAH ALAM, 18 Oct: Member of Parliament for Sungai Petani, Datuk Johari Abdul insists that it is unfair if the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tan Sri Taib Mahmud, do not declare their assets on grounds that they been in politics for too long.
Johari said the declaring should be done since the people already know the income of politicians, such as Chief Ministers and Members of Parliament, especially involving Pakatan Rakyat.
He said that it would not be a problem if political leaders have a lot of property, on condition that they can explain how they acquired the property involved.
“It will certainly be unfair if they do not declare the property they own. What should they fear if they have RM50 million and they can explain to the public where they got it from.
“The refusal to declare their property causes there to be suspicion that they are hiding something. I feel that the fear to declare property must have its grounds,” he said when contacted by TVSelangor here today.
Citing a report from the Malaysiakini news portal, Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali, a lecturer from the University of Malaya (UM), said that it is unfair for the two leaders to not declare their assets because they have been in politics for a long time.
Johari, also a former UM student, expressed his disappointment over the statement because declaring property is the best move to identify individuals who are involved or would like to venture into politics who are not associated with corruption.
“As it is well known, leaders who are new or have been in politics for a long time should declare their property because this way, we can identify individuals who are not involved in corruption and I think that this is the best method. If indeed they are involved in business, the leader should just declare their property without having to hide it.
“If leaders begin to declare their property, they may be considered millionaires if they have a lot of property, and that is not an issue in this country. For example, it would not be an offense if Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, Vincent Tan or any others want to join politics and declare their assets which amount to a lot,” he said.
