In Malaysia all things are lead to a lonely place called politico-alley. It's an alley where one can sell their soul to the highest bidder and make a quick buck at the expense of the ordinary bloke living on the street. They pawn themselves to the masses and all they want is our super-fly ability to mark the ballot paper. And what happens when a candidate does not get the money they yearn to gain from politico-alley? Draw out a DVD of recordings that prove someone tried to buy you out. Use the DVD to blackmail and hopefully get back at those whom spurn you. Ironically, nothing is gain from this desperate act to gain 15 minutes of fame and glory on national television. It merely taints the very system from which the citizen elects its representatives. It exposes the fact that in Malaysia anything and everything is tied to politics. From the education system, concession to buy land, the right to one's own religion and the use of certain words in daily living; are all governed by politics.
In Malaysia nothing is spared. All are used for political gain.
In an environment such as this, it is small wonder that a candidate can claim that they were offered money to be a candidate. No surprise when it is the norm. So aside from selling the idea that the Opposition in Malaysia are all crooks, such revelation only serves as a headline to sell more newspapers or feed the Government propaganda machine.
I would welcome this distraught candidate to reveal all and allow the citizens to decide for themselves. If she can claim that the Opposition are crooks, then what more the current Government, whom have more resources and money to offer to the Opposition in order to manipulate them for the government gains. If a little is revealed, then allow the whole to be made visible.
Will this happen in Malaysia?
MORE
SUMMARY ONLY
I took a long break from writing, primarily to focus on other matters in my life and also because looking at the current state of Malaysia, one would end up blogging about the same matter every week. Anyway, for those who have been wondering where I have been, well; I'm still here. And I'd like to put in a little two (2) cents bit on the UMNO General Assembly.
A new PM will step up and this is a most undemocratic step up. It is a PM by consensus, namely the President of UMNO will be PM of Malaysia. He was not voted in, neither were the other members of Malaysian society (namely non-UMNO) consulted or allowed to take part in the voting. Wait, for the presidency there was no voting...right, everyone kind of opted to save the trees by not printing ballot papers for president and just step up whoever the previous president said was good for the post.
So we'll have a new PM by next week. Still new PM but same old problems. PM-to-be spoke about eliminating corruption from the party polls. I think I heard the same speech last year and the year before. Same problem seems to appear every general assembly. Then there was that call to have more representation from the grass-roots in electing their leaders.
Currently, about 2500 delegates cast votes. PM-to-be wants to introduce a new system to elect the UMNO leaders. Sounds good but it would mean the rewards for votes would be slightly higher.
Talking about delegate votes. The PM-Son-In-Law won the delegate votes eventhough it was clear Former-PM-Son won the popular vote. So it shows, even if the grass-roots support you, it is still the delegates that determine the victor. The voice of the 3 million UMNO members can be stifled by 2500 who stand in as delegates.
Come next week and we'll see the new PM strut his stuff as he face three(3) by-elections which I am sure BN must win as a gift for the incoming new PM. Yup, new PM, same old problems.
MORE
SUMMARY ONLY
The longer campaign period leading towards next year’s Umno polls could actually help reduce money politics and not worsen it, said Perak Umno chief Datuk Seri Mohammad Tajol Rosli Ghazali.
“The longer the campaign period, the fewer chances there are for money politics as it is not easy to ‘look after’ people for months.
Source: The Star
Reading through this report by The Star, I can safely say that money politics is alive and well in UMNO. It seems to be the normal practice and part and parcel of climbing up the ladder of the political tower.
So the longer period would mean it will cost more to 'look after' the people; making it a non-viable way to gain support in UMNO but what happens when we have candidates who have war-chest that are limitless? Mind you, career politicians are ready for the long haul and their war-chests run into the millions. Money is not the issue to them and neither is buying or selling out one another. So really, the length of time till the party elections is not an issue here.
In short, money politics should be irradicated.
Wasn't this one of the promises of Pak Lah when he came into office? It seems he has forgotten or merely given up. It is not an easy thing to rid off when the whole structure of the political party basically survives on who can pay off the most. It is not only during nomination time that money is passed around. Even during the lull moments, money is passed around through the awarding of contracts and favors. This is the ROI for money passed during nominations.
So what is a few million when you can make back billions?
So money politics is money politics and nothing will change in the way politics is done in Malaysia. The fact that statements like the above make it into prime time news just shows how real the matter is and how deep it is instilled into the very fabric of UMNO itself.
MORE
SUMMARY ONLY
Posts
