(Suara keADILan) - Umno veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah warned that Malacca Menteri Besar Mohd Ali Rustam had the right to derail the party’s annual general assembly and election by appealing to the Registrar of Societies.
Razaleigh is among the latest to join the slew of leaders who have spoken out against his party’s decision to bar Ali Rustam from contesting the deputy presidency because of alleged involvement in vote-buying.
“Mohd Ali can appeal to the Registrar of Societies to put a stop to the Elections if he is unlawfully deprived of his eligibility for office. At the very least, his appeal against his punishment needs to be heard before the party elections commence next week,” said Razaliegh in his latest blog posting.
“I do not see how they may bar him from contesting so long as he remains a member of the Party. The Societies Act defines the “eligibility to hold office in the committee or governing body of the society,” along with the right to vote, as a constitutional right of every member.
“The disciplinary board can remove certain privileges but not rights provided by the Constitution. Umno’s constitution cannot be interpreted contrary to the Societies Act.”
A purge most foul
Accusations have already been levelled at incoming president Najib Abdul Razak for attempting the bold purge against leaders aligned to outgoing president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. A warning letter was also issued to Abdullah’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, the MP for Rembau.
But what has outraged Umno members most is the cavalier treatment of Ali Rustam, a veteran rank-and-file leader and a known Abdullah loyalist with immense grassroots support.
The shock suspension comes just about a week before the much-anticipated election, leading members to scoff at Najib’s explanation that the move was part of a grand plan to reform and rid Umno of corruption.
“Umno’s leadership should be mindful of the fact that the party of Merdeka is now almost universally viewed as corrupt beyond redemption. Yet they talk of reform and transparency, and by their actions promise “not under their watch,” Razaleigh said.
Ali Rustam, who has protested his innocence, has appealed to the Umno supreme council but it is unclear if the 25-member decision-making organ can review his case in time before the annual meeting begins on Mar 25.
“Bribery always involves at least two parties. The disciplinary board has found that Mohd Ali was involved in political bribery through his agents. However has the board also investigated every member alleged to have received those bribes?
“Money is often passed out for further distribution. Has the board traced the entire trail of inducements, monetary or in kind, identified every culpable participant, and suspended his membership? If not, the tainted votes of those participants will taint the entire party elections.”
Why haven’t the cases been referred to the MACC?
Razaleigh, who is also Gua Musang MP and a former finance minister, also took his party to task for not reporting the alleged corruption cases to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
“The MACC was properly instituted by an Umno-led government. It was not designed to used only against the Opposition and members of the public.
“The disciplinary board has gathered enough evidence of Dato’ Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, and eight other individuals being involved in “money politics” to mete out punishments ranging from suspensions to a warning.
“But money politics is nothing but a euphemism for political bribery, and political bribery is a crime covered by the Penal Code. If you know of a crime but do not report it, you become an accomplice to the crime.”
A day ago, KeADILan Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin lodged a report against Ali Rustam at the Malacca MACC office. He challenged the graft-buster to take action.
“It is a clear-cut case. All the evidence is with the Umno disciplinary board, which has already convicted their own member, Ali Rustam. So what’s the problem for MACC ? All they need to do is to ask the disciplinary board for the evidence, unless of course, they are afraid to antagonise Umno,” said Shamsul.
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