Were Anwar and Shafie not part of that gang of thieves?
DAP says if Anwar cannot get the support of Malaysians to become the Prime Minister then Shafie Apdal should become Prime Minister instead. What’s the difference? Shafie and Anwar are equally corrupt. Both are the same. And both are legacies of Umno.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
“Has the leadership in Umno changed? The president today is Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Is he someone new or part of the previous kleptocratic regime which was brought to its knees by Malaysians in 2018? Isn’t the party president still facing a slew of charges for corruption and money laundering?” asked Francis Paul Siah of Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS).
Francis Paul Siah and his friends in DAP, PKR and Pakatan Harapan keep repeating that same mantra and it is very tiring to hear them go on and on with that most illogical argument.
Okay, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. For argument’s sake, let us agree that Umno was, as they say, a “kleptocratic regime”, and that Umno will never change. Now, let us take that argument one step further and analyse when and how that happened.
The rot in Umno started with these three Pakatan Harapan leaders
In other words, Umno was founded in May 1946, which was 74 years ago. Was Umno corrupt, as they say, since 1946 or for the last 74 years?
Umno did not win the election until nine years later in 1955. So how could Umno have been corrupt since 1946. So, was Umno corrupt since 1955 then?
Malaya did not gain independence until two years later in 1957. From 1955 to 1957 the British were still running the country. So how could Umno have been corrupt since 1955?
So, was Umno corrupt since Merdeka on 31st August 1957 then? Did the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman steal the rakyat’s money? How much did he steal? What are the details? Which privatisation projects did Tunku Rahman implement to siphon out money? Or did Tunku Rahman retire and die poor, as what has been reported?
Pakatan Harapan’s “AP Queen” Rafidah Aziz stole billions
Okay, so Tunku Rahman was not corrupt then. Was Tun Razak Hussein corrupt? No? Was Tun Hussein Onn corrupt? Also, no?
Then when did Umno begin to get corrupt? DAP and Pakatan Harapan are saying that the country was corrupt for 61 years from 1957 to 2018, but stopped being corrupt in May 2018 after Umno was ousted and Pakatan Harapan took over.
First of all, the corruption did not stop, as they claim, in 2018. DAP and Pakatan Harapan were also involved in corruption. In fact, DAP was already involved in corruption in Penang ten years before that since 2008 when they took over the state government.
Guan Eng has been implicated in corruption involving billions
Hence DAP was involved in corruption for 12 years since 2008, not just two years since 2018.
Secondly, DAP’s and Pakatan Harapan’s allegation that the country was corrupt for 61 years from 1957 to 2018 is not true. Corruption did not become a way of Malaysian life and part of Malaysian politics until 1981 when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad take over as Prime Minister and when Anwar Ibrahim joined Umno in 1982.
So, for argument’s sake, let us agree with Francis Paul Siah and his friends in DAP, PKR and Pakatan Harapan that the country became corrupt under Umno and that Umno has not changed, or the Umno people have not changed.
Kit Siang says Mahathir is the most corrupt prime minister in Malaysian history
However, even if that is true that Umno was corrupt, it is not the Umno under Onn Jaafar. It is not the Umno under Tunku Abdul Rahman. It is not the Umno under Tun Razak. It is not the Umno under Tun Hussein. It is the Umno under Mahathir and Anwar.
But then the problem is not Umno. The problem is the leaders of Umno who corrupted Umno. And the leaders who corrupted Umno since 1981-1982 are Mahathir and Anwar.
So why are Francis Paul Siah and his friends in DAP, PKR and Pakatan Harapan grumbling? The biggest criminals who corrupted Umno and left a legacy of corruption in Umno are no longer in Umno. They are now all in Pakatan Harapan — Mahathir, Anwar, Rafidah Aziz, Kadir Jasin, etc.
Okay, so we still have Najib Tun Razak, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and a number of others who are facing trial. The courts are yet to come out with their verdicts, while the first verdict against Najib is being appealed. Even then DYMM Yang di-Pertuan Agong can still grant pardons like in Anwar’s sodomy case (and PKR says once a pardon is granted your crime is wiped clean and you become innocent again).
So, as alleged by Francis Paul Siah and his friends in DAP, PKR and Pakatan Harapan: is Umno really corrupt? And if so, when did Umno start to become corrupt and whom caused Umno to become corrupt? More importantly, where are all these corrupt Umno leaders today?
DAP says if Anwar cannot get the support of Malaysians to become the Prime Minister then Shafie Apdal should become Prime Minister instead. What’s the difference? Shafie and Anwar are equally corrupt. Both are the same. And both are legacies of Umno.
So, either Mahathir, Anwar or Shafie is going to become DAP’s and Pakatan Harapan’s Prime Minister. But then all are from Umno. All are corrupt. And all of them corrupted Umno. Hence what’s wrong with Najib, Zahid and the rest who are still in Umno?
Can Francis Paul Siah and his friends in DAP, PKR and Pakatan Harapan explain why one bunch of “corrupt Umno leaders” is not acceptable while the other bunch is? If Najib, Zahid and the rest who are still in Umno resign from Umno and join Pakatan Harapan would they be considered no longer corrupt and now acceptable?
