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The Judiciary, Jurors CC!)VER STORY e was known as Mat Tyson due to his passing resem­ blance to the famous boxer. But high-fl)ing Malaysian politician IMuha mmad Muhammad Taib found himself knocked out of the Selangor state go\ ern­ ment soon after he \\ as charged with tlouting Australian currency laws. His resignation as Selangor chief minister on 14 April has again fuelled debate on the extent of money politics in !\1alay- l sia. The case is also a . et­ back in Prime ~linisrer Dr Mahathir Mohamad· - war against mone) politics within h is dominant United Malays ~ari on a] ..... Organisation (lThl:'\0) . Muhamm(l(l Taib anm>tmcing Ills l'l'signation 011 April /2, 1997 Aliran Monthly 1997: 17(3) Page 2 Britain's \forul Crisi~ l pholding Judicial Independence .Judiciary Triumph~ Fenrle•t,And Uocorrupt Judges Current Concerns 9 U)OOI IIJid Gnaphlt b) I <lttr "rtulm~on 61. l<t tb>r, w;,.,... &I,. t-haw Utn. Thinl.ing Allowed 19 l'<nckalan Wdd. 10;\00 l'ulau 1'1....._. \.lalal •Ia. 26 ret : fo6.1.uzun I"\.\ : to6-1-161l.'76 Printl'll hy IU' l'rlmtrs Snd. II ltd. Subscription 17 66, 6ll & 70 Jolon IUr ''"'" Appeal Ill 10-160 l'ulau l'o,..Ol. \lalal""­ Td:64~·2W~ Fu: 64>1 · 2171164 Ahran ts a Malaysian non-governmental organbation lt~tcd on the roster of the Econom1<: and Social Counctl of the United Nation,. Guided by universal spiritual values. Aliran strives fur genuine unity hy promoting Published by Atiran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) socmljustice and human dignity. Membership is open to ll, Jnlnn Panlni A1.b lhruhlm, all Malaysian.'> above 21 [f you are intcrcMcd in joining ti'JOO l'ul:lu Pinaog. Mula}'la. (Po~tal Address : P 0 841\ 1049, Aliran. pie~ contact the Hon Secretary at the address IOll.lO Pul~u Pioaog, i\lala~,ia.l sho\\ n in thi' page. Td I fa,: 60-1- 6-115785 Alira1t Mmllhl\" /997: / 7(2} Ptlf,e 3 Muhammad, 51, one of three had already tarnished the his constituency? Do they still elected UMNO vice-presi­ country's international image. want him? Muhammad. 11 dents, was arrested at would seem, has a moral re­ Brisbane airport last Decem­ Still, Muhammad clung on to sponsibility to seek a fresh ber for allegedly trying to take his post as UMNO vice-presi- . mandate from the citizens he the equivalent of US dent and Selangor state assem- seeks to represent. $990,000 out of Austra­ lia. Pressure mounted on lilA-lOR HEADACHE Muhammad after the Mahathir also revealed on Brisbane Courier Mail 12 April that the UMNO published details of his al ­ supreme council had or­ leged sizeable assets in dered a probe into the ac­ Australia. counts of its women's wing. The wing's ousted The case was mentioned at chief Rafidah Aziz a Brisbane court on I I claimed that the move­ April. Muhammad found ment had RM1.8 million himself facing a second in its coffers when the more serious charge, wing held its exco meet- 1 which seemed to indicate ing in August last )Car. 1 that there had been a false She said she was shocked or misleading declaration when she was told that the ·th Dr Maharhir : A s~rbad.. for him? o f currency - al ong w1 an bank account bad now earlier charge of non-declara­ bly member - pleading that been closed. tion. The case will now be these are elected posts, thus beard on 19-21 August. If implying that only those who "I would also like to know why found guilty of the second elected him have the right to payment had been made to cer­ charge, Muhammad faces a remove him. Neither did he tain quarters or on whose or­ fine of up to RMlO,OOO or a quit his posts as chairman of der it was done;· said Rafidah. jail term of up to five years or various companies, founda­ She disclosed that the pay­ both. tions and organisations, posi­ ments from the wing's account tions which he held by virtue had nothing to do with the Mahathir promptly announced of having been the Menteri movement. Muhammad's resignation as Besar. Whether Muhammad Selangor chief minister the resigns as UMNO vice-presi­ Ironically, Rafidah was herself next day after chairing the dent is not the real issue, embroiled in a controversy UMNO Supreme Council though he would help the party when it was revealed that her Meeting. It was belated - but by graciously stepping down. ministry had awarded a size­ mostly Malaysians generally But if UMNO still wants him able chunk of shares to her welcomed the move. In a as vice-president, it can keep relative (along with other al­ sense, Mahatbir didn' t have a him. locations to the relath es of choice. Muhammad's un­ three top politicians: Mahathir, happy Australian escapade But what about the people in Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Alirm1 MonTh/)· 1997: 17(1) Pa/(e 4 tion for the state seat had been "affected by extensively prevalent bribery." It all adds up to a major head­ ache for Mahathir. Despite pleading with UMNO mem­ bers at the party's general as­ sembly last year to reject cor­ rupt leaders, Mahathir finds that money politics continues unabated. Aliran had said then that banning election cam­ paigns for party posts in Ibrahim, and Deputy Home Two days before the Brisbane UMNO would not solve the Minister Megat Junid). That court mention, it was revealed menace and that it was akin to episode damaged her standing in parliament that the Anti- prescribing Panadol for a mi­ and may have played a part in Corruption Agency (ACA) graine. her sensational defeat as was probing eight state execu- women· s wing head. tive councillors for alleged The Muhammad Taib saga bas corruption and misuse of donenothingtodispeldisquiet An UMNO member in Kuala power. The probe was said to over money politics inMalay­ Lumpur, meanwhile, focus on their involvement in sia. Allegations of vote-buying claimed that the vote-count­ land and logging concessions. have dogged the election cam- ing in the election of the paigns for top posts in several party's youth wing chieflast Last December, two former political parties here in recent year was manipulated. Zahid aides of Muhammad were years. Hamidi, the youth chief, re­ caught with millions of sponded by saying that the ringgit in cash in their pos­ wing was prepared to go to session. Then, in February, a court and accept the outcome court in Sarawak found evi­ if the need arose. The alle­ dence of extensive vote-buy­ gation comes at a bad time ing during the election cam­ for Zahid, who got off to the paign for the Bukit Begunan worst possible start as youth state seat won by a candidate wing leader. Thugs wearing from Mahathir's ruling coa­ UMNO Youth wing badges lition. Political observers had violently stormed into the long suspected that such Second Asia Pacific Confer­ campaign irregularities were ence on East Timor in Kuala widespread. But no one had Lumpur last year - an epi­ been able to provide proof sode that triggered scathing until the case cropped up. international criticisms. The court ruled that the elec- Zalrid Hamidi: Prepared to go to court? Aliran Monthly 1997· 17{3) Page 5 -r it's anyone's guess bow far ception Will persist no mat- This will enable the public to l the tentacles of money politics ter what 1 he g<.l\ ernment gauge if shares are beingly have spread. So how do we says. 1 unfairly awarded to those who put a stop to money politics? Ido not deserve them. Seco11d, make it compulsory First, free the ACA. Make it for all politician.f> Ito/ding These are three simple steps truly independent and im­ public office to publicly de- that will effectively combat mune from executive influ­ clare their assets. money politics and corrup- ence and political pressure. tion - a major social ill plagu­ Only then will the outcome of Atpresent. the)' onl} have to ing the country. Indeed, its investigations into corrupt declare their usset-. to the money politics has been ex­ practices have any credibility Prime Mini..,t~r Such a lim- eluded from the official dis­ with the public. ited declaration "' meaning- cuss ion of "social ills·· - per­ less as it doc.., not tnspire haps because it also involves I The recently announced in­ creased budget allocation to the ACA lo strengthen its structure and organisation is welcome. It comes at a time when Malaysia's ranking in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index slipped from 23rd place in 1995 to 26th last year. Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, however, pointed out that "the percep­ tion of businessmen and for­ eign institutions has actually ThugJ from UMI\0 I""'" nof,·ml\ "••mu·d APCI:.T II improved'' based on the points received. In I 996, public confidence. Ordinary politicians, tycoons and oth­ Malaysia scored 5.32 points, Malaysians and the mcd ia ers among the elite. But if an improvement over the must have access to these nothing 1s done about it. this previous year's 5.28. declarations. Alll.l politicians scourge could negate the seeking public office must he country· s economic achieve­ But there is still a wide- prepared lo come under pub­ ments and undermine the spread perception that cor- . lie scrutiny very foundation of society. ruption probes are carried I out selectively. depending Third, disclose all special We ha\e heard cnoughoftaJk.
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