Khir's arrest: 'People know it's an Umno ploy'

By Rahmah Ghazali - Free Malaysia Today

UPDATED PETALING JAYA: The Selangor government today expressed doubt over the "authencity" of the prosecution against former menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo despite the ruling coalition's pledge that it would do its best to weed out corruption.

Political secretary to Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Faekah Hussin said the charge set out against Khir involving his purchase of a mansion in an exclusive neighbourhood in Shah Alam did not reflect the entire spectrum of the offence which he had allegedly committed.

"It does not really show the seriousness of the federal government in tackling the nation's major disease such as corruption. And it is far from cleaning up the mess that has tarnished Umno," she said.

According to her, the Selangor opposition leader has committed a more serious offence than just purchasing a land worth RM3.5 million - well below its market price - for the purpose of building the mansion.

She said the full spectrum of the case should not only involve the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) who has dragged Khir to court, but also the Inland Revenue Board Malaysia (Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri) for possible tax evasion.

"His offence is not as easy as one would picture. Apart from MACC, this (case) involves the LHDN and investigation should be made to see whether the tax imposed was in accordance with the actual value of these lots or has Khir deliberately given them (LHDN) a false estimated tax payment.

"Also investigations should be conducted into the stamp duty payment made on the property.
"This matter cannot be taken lightly because the act to avoid paying taxes which is made 'under declaration' is a serious offense in itself", said Faekah.

Umno's strategy
Khir was arrested by MACC and charged for alleged land fraud on Monday.
He was charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum two years' jail term and a fine, or both, if convicted.

This has prompted Khir, who is also a dentist by profession, to quit his post as the state opposition leader in an attempt to 'clear his name'.

He however remains as Sungai Panjang state assemblyman.
But Faekah is less than amused by Khir's latest stunt, saying that it was merely a "political ploy that is often played by Umno and Barisan Nasional" to cover other abuses of power.
She also asserted that the prosecution by MACC is to provide "easy access" for the Umno leadership to appoint the new opposition chief.

"It is also a ploy to project a 'clean' image of Selangor Umno by replacing a leader who has lost credibility. But I would like to stress that the people do not care about this.
"What is more important to the people is that the authorities take action against the leaders of Umno and BN who are corrupt and how serious are they in handling this," she said.
She further pointed out that Selangor is better off being under the administration of Pakatan Rakyat, who has managed to clean up all the "corrupt" and "sinful" deeds committed by the previous BN government.

"It is not an easy task but we managed to resolve half of the problems although we have governed the state for less than three years.
"The mistake done by BN will not be repeated by us because we will not underestimate the people's judgments," she concluded.
Najib: It's not a gimmick
Responding later to claims that the decision to prosecute Khir was a BN gimmick in view of an early general election, Prime Minister NajibTun Razak lashed out at the opposition for turning the matter into a political issue.

"We are not using the prosecution as a gimmick. How is it a sandiwara (sideshow) if he has been charged?” asked the premier.

"This is what happens when a curruption case is turned into political issue. They (the opposition) want to slam the government by making it look as though we are not serious (in fighting corruption),” he said.

He added that the opposition was only keen on making claims that the government was covering up or conducting selective prosecutions.

He said that the decision to charge Khir was made after proper investigations by the MACC and the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

He said these two bodies had adhered to the necessary process before bringing Khir to court. He told this to reporters after an event in Putrajaya.