SEREMBAN, March 19 (Bernama) -- Umno is ready for change and renewal aimed at restoring the party's image and the members faith under the new leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Agence France-Presse - 3/19/2009 10:34 AM GMT
Mahathir says Malaysian party faces revolt over graft
Malaysia's ruling party faces an internal revolt over an anti-graft purge, but will be voted out of power if it fails to act on corruption, former premier Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday.
Rais: Give new leaders a chance NST 2009/03/20
KUALA LUMPUR The new Umno leadership, which will be in place later this month, should be given a chance to set things right in the party and regain the people's confidence Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said besides party members, the Malays also needed to give the new leadership a second chance. "Now we know what the shortcomings are and we are correcting them."
Agence France-Presse - 3/17/2009 11:09 AM GMT
Malaysia's leadership battle hit with corruption probe
A battle for senior leadership posts in Malaysia's ruling party was hit with a bombshell Tuesday as 15 members including several top figures were found guilty in an anti-corruption probe.
The above headlines strongly suggest that change within the party of UMNO is eminent but will the same wind of change blow across the entire governing system of this nation, political parties and on one would be spared?
Is this not just another classical example of 贼喊捉贼 (literally means a thief shouting others to catch other thieves, i.e. referring to the tactic used by the greater evils to divert public attention to the chaos created by them and by labelling others as the evil and bad)?
Don't get me wrong, i have no pity to those who are under corruption probes in UMNO and I am totally support such anti-corruption purge. What I am saying is that such house cleanings should not be politically motivated, but independent and apply across the board. Don't just catch the small fishes but also the big ones too.
It would be an understatement to say every Malaysian knows how corrupted of our governing party "leaders" are. In fact, Malaysia is notorious worldwide for corruption.
And obviously, the government agency who is chartered to do such job, i.e. MACC / SPRM is not doing its job truthfully. In fact, the agency is becoming or even has spun off to become another government vehicle for the ruling party to get rid of opponents.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) / Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) which was commissioned in 2007 to replace the former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) or Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR) is supposed to be an agency that investigates and persecutes corruption in the public and private sectors. It is an agency supposedly to put an end to corruption that has been dogging the political parties, especially the ruling party, i.e. Barisan Nasional.
Our observation so far pointed that the agency is highly skewed and biased towards UMNO and Barisan Nasional coalition party but reacting very negatively to the opposition party. Many controversial and corruption cases involving UMNO politicians, including the thief who shouted others to catch thieves, had been swept under the carpet while trivial cases involving opposition parties are given endless hours of investigations.
Again, don't get me wrong, if the politicians of the opposition parties are in the wrong, they deserve such investigation and be prosecuted.
The ruling party can continue to be ignorant that the anak-anak Malaysia (sons and daughters of Malaysia) will believe with whatever they showcase to the public and report on the mainstream media.
While not all the sons and daughters of Malaysia have eyes, ears, mouths and brains; many have developed those senses and intellect to detect and analyse who and where the smelly rats are!
