The denial by the BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak that giving out cash and kind during election times does not amount to vote-buying and corruption should be refuted in strongest possible terms by all right thinking Malaysians.
According to Election Offenses Act 1954 Part 3 `Corrupt practices' - bribery for voters is identified as a heavy offence which is punishable by heavy fines, prison terms and by being barred from standing for legislative office for five years.
According to the Anti-Corruption Act 1997, Part 3 `Offences and Penalty', there are a number of sections that deal with corruption that would have include vote-buying :
11. Offence in giving or accepting gratification by agent.
12. Acceptor or giver of gratification to be guilty notwithstanding that purpose was not carried out or matter not in relation to principal's affairs or business.
15. Offence Of Using Office Or Position For Gratification.
From the universal standards of free and fair elections, vote-buying is universally rejected and even given a nasty nick name `pork-barreling'.
Vote-buying as practiced in Malaysia is often a double crime - firstly, in trying to influence the voter/s through giving cash or kind, or promising the same; secondly, it also involves abusing public funds usually by tapping illegally into government coffers ie, the people's fund. The public is robbed collectively when a politician abuses with impunity his/her position to steal public funds to buy votes and improve his/her sagging electoral appeal.
The only reason why the culprits are never brought to book is reflected by a sad scene at a political financing forum organised by Transparency International last year - an MACC spokesperson and the No. 2 man of the of Election Commission were unashamedly passing the buck to each other on the issue of who should enforce the Election Offenses Act.
The EC claims that it has no investigative power and thus pushed the job to the MACC. The MACC claimed that their legal definition of corruption was so very different from the Election Offenses Act that they would not touch the matter. And so the truth is, the very law prohibiting vote-buying does not have an enforcer!
This may explain why in the 52 years of Malaysian electoral history, there was only one case where a petition against vote-buying was upheld viz the Donald Lawan/Bkt Bangunan case (1995) in Sarawak.
Is that what the BN chairperson is banking on to publicly deny that doling out millions - some estimated to be around RM70 million for Hulu Selangor - is not vote-buying?
In the Philippines, there is a law prohibiting public allocations, announcement of new projects and the giving away of public tenders three months ahead of an election. Can Malaysia at least follow our regional neighbour in establishing the right legal framework to clean up our elections and politics?
Such misleading public statements from the top executive of a country can only deepen further our very corrupt political culture and cause further erosion on the respect for the rule of law in the country. Vote-buying subverts the will of the people and therefore the entire meaning of representative democracy.
More people should speak out against such Orwellian speak from the BN chairperson doubling as PM. He should be censured in the court of public opinions if the compromised law enforcers refuse to do their job to investigate the BN chairperson for vote-buying and corruption.
Better still, voters are entitled to punish them where it count most - at the ballot box. The only way to deal with blatantly corrupt politicians is to show them the door.
