COMPARE AND CONTRAST STATEMENTS MADE BY 2 PERSONALITIES

"We must be able to differentiate that a breach of party ethics and discipline is not criminal in nature" said the MACC Chief Commissioner.


“Some are found guilty but they can carry on. Some were found guilty, (but) cannot contest but can hold position in government; some are known to be involved in corruption but are cleared.” chided former PM and UMNO President.

*Umno needs to be more serious


*MACC: Breach of ethics "not criminal in nature"


Umno needs to be more serious

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today the future of Umno depends on its leaders and their seriousness in getting rid of money politics in the party.

“If they choose to be serious to clean up Umno, then there is a future for Umno. If not, they are going to lose the next election,” Mahathir told reporters after the launch of Wisma Sahoca (Sultan Abdul Hamid Old Collegians Association) at Kelana Jaya here.

Mahathir said Umno's disciplinary board had an opportunity to clean the party's name and restore public confidence in the party but it failed to deliver because "they did not do their task properly or completely".

Mahathir, who is also permanent president of Sahoca, said the decision by the board was unfair.

He then cited the example of the board finding two persons guilty of the same offence, but were given different punishments, "which goes against the principle of justice".

“I believe many of them are lawyers, they (board) ought to know.”

Although Mahathir did not mention names, he was obviously referring to the board finding Malacca chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam and Umno youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin guilty of breach of ethics, but the former was barred from contesting the deputy president's post while the latter was only given a warning.

Asked to elaborate, he said: “Some are found guilty but they can carry on. Some were found guilty, (but) cannot contest but can hold position in government; some are known to be involved in corruption but are cleared.”

However, he did not mention who he thought was known to be corrupt.

When asked if the board should allow an appeal from Mohd Ali, Mahathir said the move will further erode public confidence in the board and the party.

Asked if he was confident with the next batch of Umno leaders, he bluntly said he was not, with "most of them".

Mahathir said he received an invitation to attend next week’s Umno general assembly although he had quit the party. He said he might be “going as an observer” but would not confirm his attendance.

Hemananthani Sivanandam / sun2surf
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MACC: Breach of ethics "not criminal in nature"

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said today they are not involved in investigations pertaining to political parties' ethics as a breach of discipline or ethics "is not criminal in nature".

Its chief commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan said this when asked to comment on calls by opposition parties that the MACC investigate Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam who was barred from contesting in party elections after he was found guilty of money politics.

"We welcome anyone who wants to make a report but we must be able to differentiate that a breach of party ethics and discipline is not criminal in nature," he said.

He said the MACC investigations director Datuk Shukri Abdullah was still awaiting reports if there were criminal elements in the case being acted on by the Umno Disciplinary Board recently.

On another matter, he said the MACC will record statements from several more Perak assemblymen pertaining to the suspension of Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and six executive council members from attending the state legislative assembly.

Ahmad Said said their statements would be crucial to the investigations on the matter.

Asked whether the assemblymen were from the Barisan Nasional or the opposition pact, he said, "We will also call those from the BN if necessary."

He was speaking to reporters after attending the commission's event with the Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, here today.

Yesterday, the MACC recorded the statements of four members of the Perak rights and privileges committee, namely Loke Chee Yan (Kepayang assemblyman), Ong Boon Piow (Tebing Tinggi), Sum Cheok Leng (Bercham) and Chan Ming Kai (Simpang Pulai).

Another committee member, Husin Din (Selinsing), was question by the MACC on March 17 while Speaker V. Sivakumar had his statement recorded on Feb 26.

Asked on their statements, Ahmad Said said the process was to establish whether there were elements of abuse of power in the suspension of Zambry and his six executive council members.

"To us, there seem to be so, that is why we carry out the investigations in the first place," he said.

Bernama