YOURSAY | ’It’s plain wrong on so many levels to use cash to entice voters.’
Zahid: Charity if Hadi does it, corruption if others do it
Vijay47: My greatest fear is that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s brilliant legal justification that the money given to voters was charity from PAS and not bribes from election candidates would be acceptable to enforcement agencies along the lines of “They were my brother’s shares” or the more recent “The account manager has apologised, and I have forgiven him”.
Dostoevsky would be exceedingly impressed at how his “Crime and Punishment” has been exploited by latter-day crooks and charlatans.
Which reminds me, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, I am equally impressed with the term coined by you, “Political ulama” – I wish I had said that. Cutting back to the chase, I am astounded that political leaders who would want us to believe they are religious scholars and beacons of piety can come out with blatant falsehoods about illegal acts they commit, in the process cocking a snook at the law.
Then again, why should the law not be mocked, when its enforcers appear impotent where certain personalities are concerned? So why this inability to act, all you three agencies? (The third is the Elections Commission.) You might wring your hands and plead that the money has been given and spent, with no smoking-gun records for a paper trail to be pursued.
Elementary, my dear Watson – rope in the Inland Revenue Board. At least the identity of the philanthropists and the amounts they donated would be known. Ask them about the sources of funds for their generosity. They don’t remember? No problem. The relevant amounts will be treated as undisclosed income and they will be charged to tax with penalties. You will be surprised how tunefully the donors will suddenly sing like canaries!
Bobbyo: Hadi has already publicly declared that monies were offered to voters in exchange for their support. The many Whatsapp videos in circulation provide enough evidence that Hadi and his gang are also corrupt. Now that the cases have been filed in the courts, Hadi is trying to do some damage control.
Due to his lack of intellect, his reasoning for offering the monies does not hold ground. It also proves that during Perikatan Nasional rule, billions of ringgit have been siphoned off. These monies have been then used to bribe voters in exchange for their support. This is a clear case of bribery.
So Hadi and his ilk caught with their pants down concerning their corrupt activities, are now trying to manipulate their acts by coming up with weird excuses.
Newday: It is plain wrong on so many levels to use cash to entice voters. I don’t care who it is. What I can’t stand the most are the originators of this despicable practice acting holier than thou and making statements such as this gem from Zahid. It would be okay if Umno had volunteered its guilt in propagating this nefarious practice and pledged to change. But no they haven’t.
Your ‘cash is king’ man former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is in jail and your opportunity for vote buying dried up as a result. You are just as guilty as PAS/PN in all this moral and ethical rot to cash for votes.
Kilimanjaro: Umno and the moderate Malays should have put Hadi in his place a long time ago. They should have inculcated the Islam that was propounded by our father of independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman. The problem of "shaking hands" and "hugging" Hadi was more to irritate and antagonise and unnecessarily make enemies of the non-Malays.
The truth now hurts after being bruised in a battle that has PAS dancing in the clouds while Umno has been left to sorely lick the wound and pick up the pieces. All caution fell on deaf ears. Be as it may, PAS is indeed corrupted, and it has never been able to shake off the Sarawak Report's allegations.
What started as PAS chivalry ended with the tail in between the legs and had to pay the Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown compensation for "dragging" her to court.
Oct: Hadi seems untouchable. The government dares not take action against him as he is a force to be left undisturbed else all hell will break loose by his followers. Hadi is not the only one who is untouchable. Others like Zahid and all sitting cabinet ministers as history has shown no cabinet ministers have been in prison.
The rakyat can pull out all their hair and Hadi is still free. Hadi knows no harm will come to him. He can be investigated but cannot be imprisoned. This is the standard operating procedure in Malaysia.
WhiteMoose0037: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has to act. He cannot keep quiet because it is Hadi, and he has thousands of followers. Hadi says what he wants without care or concern for what you think of him.
Yes, it is corruption. So what if it is PAS and Hadi? MACC will only question him and close the file? When can this country be free of corruption when you allow an ulama like Hadi brave enough to thumb his nose at you?
VS: See who is calling whom corrupt. Pot and kettle story. At least Hadi did not say no to any election for the top two posts in PAS. He is fairly and unanimously elected by his grassroots and delegates. He has a good following.
Tell us which political party has the most number of corruption cases in our 60 years of independence. That should be sufficient to keep you quiet about Hadi. A far better person than some who cheat and lie.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.
These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
