An opposition veteran has slammed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on his move to increase the allocation for BN parliamentarians as a move to “buy” their support in the face of his political crisis.
“On Sunday, Najib announced that more money will be provided for Umno/BN MPs next year, with financial allocations to BN parliamentary constituencies increased from RM5 million for each Umno/BN MP.
“Imagine a more than 50-fold increase for Umno/BN MPs allegedly for their constituency development from four decades ago - which is denied to opposition MPs, as if taxpayers’ money are the private funds of the Umno/BN ministers and MPs,” Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang said in a statement today.
Lim said this “moral blind spot” is the root of grand corruption in the top echelons of the ruling government.
“Here is where corruption started - the fatal moral blind spot to distinguish between right from wrong,” said Lim.
Opposition MPs have been attempting to redress the disproportionate allocations that the BN government gives to opposition MPs compared to their own, without success.
In particular, Sungai Siput MP Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj challenged the allocations in court in 2010 but eventually failed after appealing up to the Federal Court level in 2013.
Najib lon Sunday promised his MPs an increase , in the face of an alleged plot to remove him from office through a no confidence vote or MP declarations.
"Before it (the constituency allocation) was RM1 million, now it is RM5 million but next year there will be more.
“I will make an announcement about what we can do," Najib told Umno members at the Gerik Umno meet on Sunday according to Bernama .
‘Can’t tell right from wrong’
Lim, commenting on the present fiasco over the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal accounts, now claimed to be a political donation, said giving extra MP allocations was a form of corruption.
“Political corruption takes many forms and has many causes.
“For instance, the annual allocation of RM100,000 a year for BN parliamentary constituencies for minor development projects is a form of political corruption.
“Yet the government cannot recognise it for what it is, which shows that it has a moral blind spot which prevents it from discerning what is morally right and what is morally wrong,” the DAP parliamentary leader said.
“This moral blind spot, which prevents government leaders from distinguishing between what is right and wrong, politically and morally if not yet legally, has worsened over the years.”
Lim also referred to how his challenge this week to Umno leaders whether they had received any money from Najib’s RM2.6 billion had met with near total silence, with the exception of Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
“Malaysians are intrigued why Anifah is the only one out of 69 ministers and deputy ministers (senators will have to be excluded) who dared to declare that he has not received any funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for the 13th GE campaign,” noted Lim.
He said if such moral blind spots over corruption are not eradicated and persist among the government ministers and leaders, any attempt by Najib to propose his political funding reform is “doomed to failure”.
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