"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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
COMPARE AND CONTRAST STATEMENTS MADE BY 2 PERSONALITIES
NOW LEFT WITH THE LESSER OF THE TWO EVILS
“Sudah mahu sampai, tapi dia langgar lampu trafik (he was almost there but he hit the traffic light).” Begitulah apa yang berlaku kepada Ali Rustam menurut seorang Editor.
Ali’s loss is Mat Taib’s gain
Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam’s knock-out from the Umno elections has changed the entire tone of the race for the deputy presidency of Umno. The contest is now between the two Tan Sris.
DATUK Seri Mohd Ali Rustam made an early morning call on the Malacca Governor yesterday before returning to his official residence to chair an Umno meeting.
Then he changed from his formal suit into a red and white batik shirt to go to Ipoh for a gathering where Umno election candidates were scheduled to meet delegates from Perak.
The Ipoh meeting began at 3pm but before the meeting could even finish, news had trickled in that Mohd Ali had been found guilty of money politics and barred from the contest for the deputy president post.
It was an awkward moment for Mohd Ali, being among all the other candidates when he had just been disqualified as a candidate.
Speculation that he was in trouble had been in the air for several days but the reality still stunned everyone in the party. He is after all a big name in Umno.
But true to form, Umno’s Mr Likeable looked a picture of calm and smiled his way through the rest of the Ipoh function although some noticed that “his eyes looked sad.”
He had come so near the coveted prize only to see it slip out of his grasp. A less seasoned politician would have crumbled or lost his head but his composure was admirable.
As an editor of a Malay online portal said: “Sudah mahu sampai, tapi dia langgar lampu trafik (he was almost there but he hit the traffic light).”
But the penalty on Mohd Ali was rather unusual. He was not suspended like the others but was barred from contesting any post, effectively knocking him out of the race for the No 2 post.
And because he was not suspended, he can hold on to his Malacca Umno chief and division chief posts.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Mohd Ali will also remain the Chief Minister.
It is likely that some of the party’s top leaders had wind of the decision days earlier.
At a Monday night Umno gathering in Shah Alam, the other deputy president contender Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib or Mat Taib as he is known had playfully wrapped his arms around Mohd Ali much to the amusement of everyone.
It was Mat Taib’s way of defusing the tension given the media frenzy around Mohd Ali. Besides, Mat Taib knows how it feels to fall from the top; he has been through worse. But the picture of the comradely hug which was carried in some newspapers will probably be translated into several hundred votes for Mat Taib.
The party is anxious to clean up its image of money politics and it simply could not gloss over the decision meted out by the disciplinary board.
At the same time, an outright suspension would have further infuriated Mohd Ali’s support base.
As such, barring him from contesting while allowing him to keep his party posts seemed like a compromise of sorts. He was punished but not emasculated.
However, the decision has not gone down well on everyone. Mohd Ali’s supporters naturally see him as a victim and they are already lashing out at those whom they deem as responsible for their misfortune.
They see it as selective prosecution and think there are powerful people in the party who do not want him to win.
Some like vice-presidential candidate Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi are already making political capital out of it.
During the Ipoh meeting, Zahid who is deputy Perak Umno chief, gave a powerful speech condemning attempts to block candidates and appealed for all candidates to be allowed to contest. His stage performance was met with deafening applause.
SMS slamming the disciplinary board have started flying around.
A great deal of anger is going to be directed at the board.
Such high emotions will prevail for a while and Mohd Ali will have to play a role in reining in his supporters.
With Mohd Ali’s fall from grace, the race has narrowed down to Mat Taib versus Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The spotlight has swung onto the two Tan Sris.
It is no secret that many of Mohd Ali’s supporters are pointing their finger at Muhyiddin’s supporters.
Joceline Tan / thsStar
