 | | | | ||||
|  [
Index
] | ||||||
 | |||||||
| | | | | |||
Please Make The Anti-Corruption Agency Truly Independent As A Prelude To The Eradication Of Money Politics Satement by Dr Tan Seng Giaw, DAP National Vice-Chairman and MP for Kepong as a preliminary response to the two-hour speech by Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir at the 54th UMNO General Assembly on 11 May 2000. 12.5.2000. | |||||||
| On 11 May 2000, the 54th UMNO General Assembly was attended by over 2000 delegates. Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Dato' Seri Abudullah Ahmad Badawi have been confirmed as President and Deputy President of the party respectively without contest. Dr Mahathir managed to convince the party's Supreme Council to disallow contest of the top two posts for what he described as the sake of unity. UMNO is the dominat party of the Barisan Nasional, the ruling National Front. Traditionally, President and Deputy President of UMNO become Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively. We count on Mahathir and Abdullah to opt for a more open, democratic, transparent, accountable and just governance. We trust that they will translate their rhetoric into action. This remains to be seen. There is so much fanfare of the general assembly with direct television and radio broadcast. Much to the chagrin of the Opposition, the mass media have been so lobsided. Mahathir's two-hour speech sounds like a state of the nation speech by the American President. He alleged Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim's attempt to overthrow him, Parti Islam SeMalaysia, Pan Malaysian Islamic Party, PAS's benefit from the Anwar case, the unfinished UMNO struggle, corruption would destroy Malays, creation of a new Malay culture, the urgency to eradicate the cancer of Money politics as it would destroy the party, the New Economic Policy making Malays rich but changing their culture and values, being replaced by materialism and greed as well as learning from the Chinese in business and Malays going into retailed business. As UMNO President, the Prime Minister has tried to send an important message that the cancer of money politics should be uprooted because it would destroy the party. It would slowly but surely decimate Malaysia. Money politics, | |
business politics, patronage, corruption and wastage are so inticately intertwined that they defy imagination. All countries and races have experienced these. It is a matter of degree and the ways adopted to annihilate them. Those that manage to contain these evils survive better. Those that do not gradually sink into the abyss of misery, chaos and violence. It is not enough for Mahathir to exact a pledge of oath by the UMNO election candidates to refrain from money politics, corruption politics and corrupt practices. It is hardly sufficient for him to spell it out during his opening address of UMNO assembly. He would have to do much more than that. We all have to try our utmost before these evils consume us. The crux of the matter is the ease with which genuine money politcal cases are exposed and the culprits made to face the music. We require a more open, transparent and accountable governance to make this exposure more feasible. One important matter which has repeatedly been rejected by the Government is to elevate the Anti-Corruption Agency, ACA, to be truly independent. For example, ACA is made solely responsible to Parliament, instead of being responsible to the Prime Minister's Department. The Barisan Nasional's argument against this is that such arrangement can be abused easily. One credible answer is to study the more efficient ACA or similar agency in other countries such as that in Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, USA ann Australia. We hope Mahathir will continue to be serious about his intention to get rid of money politics. Let him review the ways to make ACA more independent and effective, the ease with which such evils can be exposed and the consequences faced by the culprits. We shall continue to talk about money politics in the years to come. We expect effective actions against it. Dr Tan Seng Giaw | |||||
| | | | | ||||
 | | |||||||
| [ Home | Political | Medical | Personal ] | Article #174 | |||||||
| [ Recent | Archives | Forum | Feedback ] | [
Index
]
| | | | |
| | ||
