Media Statement (2) by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling
Jaya on Monday, 5th January 2009:
Police in Kuala Terengganu by-election
campaign should not apply double standards and should treat Najib as one
of the party leaders for the by-election and not as a Deputy Prime
Minister or Prime Minister-elect
The police in Kuala Terengganu by-election
campaign should not apply double standards and should treat Datuk Seri
Najib Razak as one of the party leaders in town for the by-election and
not as a Deputy Prime Minister or Prime Minister-elect.
At a time when the retiring Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi is trying to give new life to his National Integrity Plan and
anti-corruption efforts in his last three months in office, the way the
Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election is conducted will be a test
as to whether his national integrity efforts and the newly-minted
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have any real meaning.
For instance, would the police in Kuala Terengganu treat Najib at par
with other party leaders, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat,
for the duration of the by-election, as there is no business for a
Deputy Prime Minister to be campaigning in Kuala Terengganu in his
official capacity.
Najib is in Kuala Terengganu as UMNO Deputy President and Barisan
Nasional Deputy Chairman and not as Deputy Prime Minister, and this
distinction must be scrupulously observed not only by the police and all
relevant government departments but also by Najib himself!
Najib should dispense with the horde of police outriders during his
visit to Kuala Terengganu to show that he is not abusing his powers and
be an example to all other Ministers and VIPs – that they should not
misuse scarce police personnel and resources in having to provide
outriders and escorts.
Najib should issue a clear directive that during the duration of the
by-election, no police outriders or escorts would be provided to Cabinet
Ministers or what-not VIPs for they will be campaigning in their party
capacities.
Or is this one reason for sending 6,000 police reinforcements to Kuala
Trengganu for the by-election, more to provide escort-riders and VIPs to
the horde of Ministers, Deputy Ministers and other BN VIPs expected to
descend on Kuala Terengganu during the 11-day by-election campaign?
This is why the police arrest of five members of Parti Keadilan Rakyat
youth wing, including the Terengganu Youth chief Faris Musa, is a matter
of grave concern.
Is this already proof of police double standards in the Kuala Terengganu
by-election?
Why should the five be arrested for putting up posters of murdered
Mongolian national Altantunya Shaariibuu as part of the Kuala Terengganu
by-election campaign starting tomorrow, just because Najib will be in
town for the by-election nomination tomorrow?
Furthermore, will the MACC be in Kuala Terengganu to take action against
all those guilty of electoral offences corrupting the voting the process
– as for instance the public pledge by the Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk
Ahmad Said that the state government would spend RM5.8 million to repair
drains and roads and carry out several small projects in Kuala
Terengganu provided the Barisan Nasional candiate wins?
This is money politics and political corruption at their most blatant.
If the MACC is as indifferent and impotent as the previous
Anti-Corruption Agency to such blatant electoral corruption, there
cannot be a worse start for the new MACC which is supposed to be another
ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong) in its
first week of establishment!
*
Lim
Kit Siang, DAP
Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor
http://dapmalaysia.org