SHAH ALAM, 20 Oct: Acknowledgement from the former Umno President, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, confirmed that corruption is normality and is practiced from the grassroots level till the top leadership of Barisan Nasional.
PKR Vice-President, Datuk Chua Jui Meng stressed that any political party that makes money politics a culture are like pools of the corrupt and breakers of trust.
“This corrupt system has been going on for a while and look at the impact it has on the people now, and it has become a tragedy for the country,” said Jui Meng.
Jui Meng is the former Vice-President of MCA and joined PKR in 2009. He left Barisan Nasional and the political culture of the coalition which caused him to be forfeited of the Dato’ Seri title.
Dr Mahathir recently said that corruption is still rampant in Umno elections and its voting members are motivated by money politics.
“Even when I competed in Umno division (elections), I had to give RM200 per person. So you can imagine how much has been spent if I were to become Prime Minister,” he said.
Previously, the President of Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M), Datuk Akhbar Satar said the feedback received found that money is distributed in special programmes organised for Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
“Candidates selected for senior positions in Umno will eventually be given ministerial portfolios where they will be involved and make decisions on mega-projects. The question is whether these projects are viable, or are just a reward to those who fund vote buying campaigns?” Akhbar said.
Meanwhile, Jui Meng said that he is not confident that the Barisan Nasional leadership can curb money politics. He also believes that the one-member-one-vote system practiced by PKR is more effective in fighting against such misconduct.
“Umno cannot run away from the money politic despite implementing additional representation in the selection system,” he said.
