By Lim Kit Siang
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has presented me with a dilemma – is the Election Integrity Pledge proposed by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) worth signing when Najib could sign it with such aplomb, contempt and cynicism after his four-year premiership witnessed corruption in Malaysia plunging to its worst depths in the nation’s 56-year history.
In Najib’s four years as Prime Minister, Malaysia’s Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) plunged to its lowest rankings in the past 18 years, i.e. No. 56 in 2009 and 2010, No. 60 in 2011 and No. 54 in 2012, as compared to Malaysia’s No. 23rd ranking in the first TI CPI in 1995, No. 37th placing in 2003 when Tun Dr. Mahathir stepped down as Prime Minister after 22 years of authoritarian and corrupt rule and No. 47 ranking in 2008 after five years of Tun Abdullah’s “Mr. Clean” premiership.
It is incontrovertible and undeniable that corruption under Najib’s four-year premiership is the worst under any Prime Minister in the nation’s 56-year history, as apart from being worse than the Mahathir and Abdullah eras, no one has ever suggested that corruption under the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein were ever more serious than under their successors.
What makes a meaningful signing of the TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge even more questionable is the presence of the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who had put Malaysia on the international radar of anti-corruption campaigns after the allegations in the ground-breaking and explosive report by the Swiss-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) last September which estimated the assets of Taib Mahmud’s family at US$21 billion (RM64 billion), with the wealth of Taib himself put at a whopping US$15 billion (RM46 billion) making him Malaysia’s richest man outstripping tycoon Robert Kuok who has US$12.5 billion.
Najib not only failed to show any seriousness or commitment in the battle against corruption by setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the BMF report to clear Taib’s name but even more important to vindicate Malaysia’s reputation, he as good as directed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to leave the BMF report alone by publicly dismissing its allegations of grand corruption against the Sarawak Chief Minister.
If the Sarawak Chief Minister was present at Najib’s Election Integrity Pledge signing ceremony yesterday, why was the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, another Barisan Nasional leader who has put Malaysia on the world radar in international anti-corruption campaigns, absent?
In my speech in Parliament on the 2013 Budget last October, I had spoken about the “test of the trio” as to whether there is real political will in the Najib premiership to combat “Grand Corruption” by VVIPs, and I had named Taib, Musa and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
But there is only complete silence from Najib on the “test of the trio” in the battle against “grand corruption” in Malaysia.
What credibility and legitimacy could Najib’s signing of the Election Integrity Pledge inspire and generate when the 66th UMNO General Assembly last December was such a dismal failure as far as fighting corruption and ensuring election integrity in the 13th General Elections are concerned?
A month before the 66th UMNO General Assembly, China’s outgoing President and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Hu Jintao warned at the 18th CCP Congress that corruption could trigger the collapse of the Party and the fall of the State – a theme which was taken up in the first speech of the new Chinese Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, who denounced the prevalence of corruption and said officials needed to guard against its spread or it would “doom the party and the state”.
There was more reason for Najib than Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping to give priority to the grave problem of corruption as in the last two decades, China had been making measurable progress in the battle against corruption while the reverse is the case for Malaysia.
In fact, if the trend of China’s improvement in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the past 18 years (1995-2012) and Malaysia’s regression continues unchecked, China will be placed in a better position than Malaysia in the TI CPI in being internationally regarded as being less corrupt in less than five years.
But the 66th UMNO General Assembly only provided further evidence that although Umno and Barisan Nasional have become synonymous with corruption in Malaysia and the four-year Najib premiership, Najib is only good at mouthing anti-corruption slogans but totally lacking the political will and commitment to root out corruption, especially grand corruption involving political and government leaders.
This was why the 66th UMNO General Assembly presented the sad spectacle of the Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman successfully performing the “disappearance” act despite valiant efforts by the media representatives on a look-out for him to respond to demands by Sabah UMNO delegates that Musa explain the scandal of the RM40million “political donation to Sabah UMNO” which involved him and the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia.
There was also the spectable of the the backing out and silence of the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi coupled with the failure of Najib to respond to the serious allegations of integrity about a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 raised by businessman Deepak Jaikishan implicating the Prime Minister’s family and which is also related to the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.
It was at the 66th UMNO General Assembly that some Sabah UMNO delegates told online news portals that although they full support Musa Aman, they were in the dark about the RM40 million “political donation” to Sabah UMNO and they wanted Musa to personally explain the issue.
However, there were also Sabah UMNO delegates who dismissed the controversy on the ground that the RM40 million donation was pittance compared to the millions UMNO dished out during elections – with one Sabah UMNO delegate revealing that in the Putatan constituency in his home state, UMNO would have to spend up to RM6 million during the polls.
With 26 parliamentary constituencies in Sabah (and Labuan) and at the average of RM6 million per constituency, the total election expenses would exceed RM150 million at the parliamentary level – which would more than doubled when the election expenses in the state assembly constituencies are taken into account.
With UMNO/BN spending at least RM300 million in Sabah, another RM300 million in Sarawak, and similar election expenditures for the 165 Parliamentary seats and 441 State Assembly seats in the eleven states in Peninsular Malaysia, we are looking at the UMNO/BN coalition spending billions of ringgit in the 13GE to retain power and recapture two-thirds parliamentary majority at the federal level, as well as regain the four Pakatan Rakyat states of Penang, Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah and ,maintain its unconstitutional rule in Perak.
With the UMNO/BN set to spend billions of ringgit in the 13GE, what is the use of Najib signing TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge? I will discuss with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang whether under these circumstances, there is any purpose in our signing the TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has presented me with a dilemma – is the Election Integrity Pledge proposed by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) worth signing when Najib could sign it with such aplomb, contempt and cynicism after his four-year premiership witnessed corruption in Malaysia plunging to its worst depths in the nation’s 56-year history.
In Najib’s four years as Prime Minister, Malaysia’s Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) plunged to its lowest rankings in the past 18 years, i.e. No. 56 in 2009 and 2010, No. 60 in 2011 and No. 54 in 2012, as compared to Malaysia’s No. 23rd ranking in the first TI CPI in 1995, No. 37th placing in 2003 when Tun Dr. Mahathir stepped down as Prime Minister after 22 years of authoritarian and corrupt rule and No. 47 ranking in 2008 after five years of Tun Abdullah’s “Mr. Clean” premiership.
It is incontrovertible and undeniable that corruption under Najib’s four-year premiership is the worst under any Prime Minister in the nation’s 56-year history, as apart from being worse than the Mahathir and Abdullah eras, no one has ever suggested that corruption under the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein were ever more serious than under their successors.
What makes a meaningful signing of the TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge even more questionable is the presence of the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who had put Malaysia on the international radar of anti-corruption campaigns after the allegations in the ground-breaking and explosive report by the Swiss-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) last September which estimated the assets of Taib Mahmud’s family at US$21 billion (RM64 billion), with the wealth of Taib himself put at a whopping US$15 billion (RM46 billion) making him Malaysia’s richest man outstripping tycoon Robert Kuok who has US$12.5 billion.
Najib not only failed to show any seriousness or commitment in the battle against corruption by setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the BMF report to clear Taib’s name but even more important to vindicate Malaysia’s reputation, he as good as directed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to leave the BMF report alone by publicly dismissing its allegations of grand corruption against the Sarawak Chief Minister.
If the Sarawak Chief Minister was present at Najib’s Election Integrity Pledge signing ceremony yesterday, why was the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, another Barisan Nasional leader who has put Malaysia on the world radar in international anti-corruption campaigns, absent?
In my speech in Parliament on the 2013 Budget last October, I had spoken about the “test of the trio” as to whether there is real political will in the Najib premiership to combat “Grand Corruption” by VVIPs, and I had named Taib, Musa and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
But there is only complete silence from Najib on the “test of the trio” in the battle against “grand corruption” in Malaysia.
What credibility and legitimacy could Najib’s signing of the Election Integrity Pledge inspire and generate when the 66th UMNO General Assembly last December was such a dismal failure as far as fighting corruption and ensuring election integrity in the 13th General Elections are concerned?
A month before the 66th UMNO General Assembly, China’s outgoing President and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Hu Jintao warned at the 18th CCP Congress that corruption could trigger the collapse of the Party and the fall of the State – a theme which was taken up in the first speech of the new Chinese Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, who denounced the prevalence of corruption and said officials needed to guard against its spread or it would “doom the party and the state”.
There was more reason for Najib than Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping to give priority to the grave problem of corruption as in the last two decades, China had been making measurable progress in the battle against corruption while the reverse is the case for Malaysia.
In fact, if the trend of China’s improvement in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the past 18 years (1995-2012) and Malaysia’s regression continues unchecked, China will be placed in a better position than Malaysia in the TI CPI in being internationally regarded as being less corrupt in less than five years.
But the 66th UMNO General Assembly only provided further evidence that although Umno and Barisan Nasional have become synonymous with corruption in Malaysia and the four-year Najib premiership, Najib is only good at mouthing anti-corruption slogans but totally lacking the political will and commitment to root out corruption, especially grand corruption involving political and government leaders.
This was why the 66th UMNO General Assembly presented the sad spectacle of the Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman successfully performing the “disappearance” act despite valiant efforts by the media representatives on a look-out for him to respond to demands by Sabah UMNO delegates that Musa explain the scandal of the RM40million “political donation to Sabah UMNO” which involved him and the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia.
There was also the spectable of the the backing out and silence of the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi coupled with the failure of Najib to respond to the serious allegations of integrity about a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 raised by businessman Deepak Jaikishan implicating the Prime Minister’s family and which is also related to the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.
It was at the 66th UMNO General Assembly that some Sabah UMNO delegates told online news portals that although they full support Musa Aman, they were in the dark about the RM40 million “political donation” to Sabah UMNO and they wanted Musa to personally explain the issue.
However, there were also Sabah UMNO delegates who dismissed the controversy on the ground that the RM40 million donation was pittance compared to the millions UMNO dished out during elections – with one Sabah UMNO delegate revealing that in the Putatan constituency in his home state, UMNO would have to spend up to RM6 million during the polls.
With 26 parliamentary constituencies in Sabah (and Labuan) and at the average of RM6 million per constituency, the total election expenses would exceed RM150 million at the parliamentary level – which would more than doubled when the election expenses in the state assembly constituencies are taken into account.
With UMNO/BN spending at least RM300 million in Sabah, another RM300 million in Sarawak, and similar election expenditures for the 165 Parliamentary seats and 441 State Assembly seats in the eleven states in Peninsular Malaysia, we are looking at the UMNO/BN coalition spending billions of ringgit in the 13GE to retain power and recapture two-thirds parliamentary majority at the federal level, as well as regain the four Pakatan Rakyat states of Penang, Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah and ,maintain its unconstitutional rule in Perak.
With the UMNO/BN set to spend billions of ringgit in the 13GE, what is the use of Najib signing TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge? I will discuss with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang whether under these circumstances, there is any purpose in our signing the TI-M’s Election Integrity Pledge.
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Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Wednesday signed Transparency International's Election Integrity Pledge – delivering a powerful statement on his commitment to free and fair elections ahead of GE13.
"I believe that as the BN leader, I have to set a strong tone. Only a candidate who is deemed to have fought a clean and fair election will lead to a trustworthy government respected by the people," he wrote.
He also made a further sign of his vow by saying that Barisan Nasional candidates would also put their name to the decree.
"Once the BN nominees for the general elections are announced, I will ensure that all candidates sign the pledge," he said afterwards.
The pledge is a voluntary social contract where candidates who will be standing for election pledge to promote integrity, good governance, transparency and accountability and to uphold the rule of law.
Transparency International-Malaysia President Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan, who witnessed Najib's signature along with MACC Deputy Chief Operations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdul, hopes that the number of signatories will not end there.
He explained that the pledge is not about the party, but the individual. He hopes that all candidates and party leaders from not only Barisan Nasional but Pakatan Rakyat too, along with any independents standing for GE13 will step forward and show their commitment like Najib.
However, given Pakatan's reluctance to even have their candidates vetted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), perhaps he shouldn't get his hopes up.
Indeed it was just last month that PAS Information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that his party was happy with its own internal, closed-doors procedures for vetting candidates.
BN Publicity and Information Bureau chairman Datuk Ahmad Maslan said that this provided a stark difference between Barisan Nasional which has proven a renewed commitment to transparency and Pakatan Rakyat which has struggled lately under the weight of fiascos like DAP's CEC disaster.
"The people want leaders who are forthright, trustworthy, hardworking and putting the people first. The BN and Umno are striving to fulfil the people's aspirations as enshrined in the party's constitution and struggle," he said.
"The prime minister is spearheading transformation in various fields based on the 1Malaysia concept to a better future."
Earlier DAP's favourite spokesperson Tony Pua described the Transparency International pledge as "very empty". Paul Low disagreed.
"You may say it is cosmetic but we explained to them that you are actually making a public declaration, and you are making a social contract with them, of his own conviction or commitment, that he will uphold principles of integrity and good governance."
Controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has alleged that there is corruption in the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government and vowed to disclose the evidence.
Following this, he expressed hope that the opposition bloc’s leader Anwar Ibrahim would act on the matter even if it meant that the heads of his close associates had to roll.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob is confident that the Barisan Nasional (BN) can win all the Parliamentary and State Assembly seats in the looming 13th general election.
He said the confidence was based on the desire of the people in the state who wanted absolute victory for the BN in the 14 Parliamentary and 42 State Assembly seats in Pahang.
“The people of Pahang wants the BN to win all the Parliamentary and State Assembly seats and I am confident that we are capable of meeting this target in the 13th general election,” he told
Adnan, who is also the chairman of the Pahang BN Liaison Committee, said the State BN election machinery was 100 per cent ready for the election and was prepared to be mobilised at any time.
Our strength is based on the concern of our elected representatives for the poor, the elderly and students and with this strength, we are capable of making a clean sweep this time around,” he said.
Asked on the selection of candidates for the 13th general election, Adnan said the people wanted winnable candidates who could work in the interest of their welfare.
He said that in every general election, as many as 30 per cent of the candidates were new faces.
“We have many options in selecting the candidates. Its’s not difficult to look for candidates because there are many people who want to be selected, but looking for winnable candidates would be something else,” he said.
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), sebahagian daripada majalah terkenal berpangkalan di London, The Economist, meramalkan Barisan Nasional (BN) akan memenangi pilihan raya umum ke-13 (PRU-13) berdasarkan kepada rekod pencapaiannya yang baik, agenda pembaharuan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak serta kepimpinan ekonomi beliau yang berjaya.
Bagi pemerhati antarabangsa, keputusan pilihan raya akan datang sudah jelas, bahawa BN akan menang, kata EIU. Ia berkata pembangkang Pakatan Rakyat telah membuat 'janji lumayan' untuk mendapatkan kuasa, dan ini merupakan penghalang yang besar.
Berdasarkan semua ini, Pakatan Rakyat berada jauh ketinggalan, menyebabkan EIU meramalkan BN akan menjadi 'pemenang'. EIU, pemikir yang menyediakan analisis risiko, industri dan negara berkala, berkata 'adalah jelas tidak sesuai' bagi Pakatan untuk melaksanakan semua janji kempennya.
Sebagai contoh, menyediakan pendidikan menengah percuma akan menyebabkan kerajaan berbelanja RM43 bilion, dengan memansuhkan duti kereta akan mengurangkan perolehan cukai sebanyak RM4.6 bilion setahun," katanya.
Menurut EIU, Pakatan Rakyat telah memungkiri banyak janjinya sebelum ini, termasuk bantuan kewangan bagi pendidikan pra-sekolah, penuntut universiti, warga emas dan orang kelainan upaya; penjagaan kesihatan percuma bagi mereka yang berumur lebih 65 tahun; cukai hartanah yang lebih rendah dan bantuan untuk pembeli rumah.
Bagi semua perkara ini, populisme Pakatan kekal tidak mempunyai hasil yang praktikal. Di Selangor, misalnya, BN mendakwa bahawa Pakatan Rakyat melaksanakan hanya 15 peratus daripada 31 janji pilihan raya, bernilai RM2.4 bilion yang dibuat dalam manifesto pada 2008. "Menteri Besar Selangor (Tan Sri Abdul) Khalid Ibrahim mengulas bahawa manifesto bukan janji tetapi mengakui bahawa pengundi mungkin berfikir sebaliknya," kata EIU.
Bandingkannya dengan rekod kejayaan BN dalam memenuhi janji-janjinya, dan anda mempunyai perbezaan yang jelas dalam pendekatan. Sebagai contoh, Najib telah menjanjikan Pulau Pinang dengan 20,000 rumah mampu milik dan monorel untuk mengurangkan kesesakan lalu lintas, dan jika BN berkuasa di negeri itu, pengundi boleh yakin rancangan ini akan dilaksanakan.
Pertaruhan adalah tinggi bagi kedua-duanya (BN dan Pakatan) ... perang tawaran berkemungkinan berterusan kerana kedua-dua pihak membuat persediaan untuk apa yang dianggap sebagai salah satu plihan raya paling sukar dalam sejarah Malaysia," kata laporan itu.
Kedua-dua perlu menarik bagi pengundi muda, pengundi kali pertama, memandangkan hampir tiga juta orang dalam blok mengundi penting ini telah ditambah kepada daftar pemilih sejak pilihan raya lepas," katanya. EIU mendakwa 'sebahagian besar daripada kumpulan ini' belum membuat keputusan mengenai parti mana yang hendak dipilih dan boleh mempengaruhi keputusan PRU-13.
Najib perlu menang besar dalam usaha untuk menjamin masa depan agenda reformasi beliau, manakala di pihak lain, pemimpin pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, mahu menjadi yang pertama untuk memecahkan kuasa BN.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has set the tone for a clean and fair general election by making a public declaration to uphold integrity and reinforcing his commitment to fight corruption in the upcoming polls.
The Prime Minister signed the Transparency International (TI) Election Integrity Pledge, which carries this objective, at a brief ceremony at the Perdana Putra building here yesterday.
The TI Election Integrity Pledge is a voluntary social contract, where candidates who will be standing for the general election pledge to promote integrity, good governance, transparency and accountability in government and to uphold the rule of law.
Candidates who sign the pledge agree to adhere to the Election Offences Act 1954 and its regulations and give an assurance that their actions and decisions are for the benefit of the general public and not self-serving.
In signing the pledge, Najib declared that he would observe principles of truth, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability, including not accepting or giving bribes or being involved in any way in corrupt practices.
Pembangkang kini bagaikan kehabisan modal apabila mengungkit perkara yang telah 'basi' selain mereka-reka cerita buruk tentang kerajaan.
Anggota Majlis Tertinggi (MT) Umno Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi berkata sikap pembangkang itu menyebabkan rakyat kini sudah muak terutama apabila kerap mengadakan siri perhimpunan yang hanya mengganggu ketenteraman dan keamanan negara.
"Mereka (pembangkang) hanya tahu mengadakan perhimpunan yang sebenarnya tidaklah dihadiri seramai mana seperti mana yang digembar-gemburkan mereka.
Mohd Puad yang juga Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran berkata pemikiran rakyat kini tidak lagi seperti dahulu yang mudah terpengaruh dengan dakyah-dakyah pembangkang yang disebar luas melalui media sosial seperti blog tanpa sebarang bukti kukuh.
Mohd Puad berkata sebaliknya pembangkang sepatutnya menumpukan usaha menyelesaikan masalah rakyat di negeri yang perintah oleh mereka seperti masalah ibu tunggal dan masalah air di Selangor dan bukan hanya tahu mencari kesalahan kerajaan.
BN sentiasa memastikan janji yang di beri pasti akan di tunaikan, manakala pembangkang hanya tau bercakap dan memberi janji kosong.
Seperti biasa, pembangkang lebih banyak bercakap.
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