Former Negeri Sembilan Menteri besar Mohd Isa Abdul Samad will be chairperson of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) on 1 January 2011 and replaces Mohd Yusof Noor who will take over as advisor to the minister in charge of Felda, also effective 1 January, 2011.
According to the statement issued by the Prime minister’s Office, the government is confident in Mohd Isa’s ability to ‘serve with excellence and effectiveness’.
Mohd Isa, 61, was the Menteri besar of Negeri Sembilan for 22 years, from 1982 to 2004.
He was also a minister of the federal territories and is a former vice-president of Umno. He became the assemblyperson of Bagan Pinang in the parliamentary constituency of Teluk Kemang after winning a by-election in October last year when he beat Zulkefly Mohamad Omar of PAS.
Perhaps Mohd Isa is best remembered as the man who was stripped of his Umno vice-presidency after being convicted of money politics by the Umno disciplinary board in 2005. His six-year suspension was commuted to three years upon appeal and ended in June 2008.
In 2005, the then Prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that Umno Vice-President Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, had to step down from all party posts because of the conviction. He made the announcement on a visit to the Defence Technologies Bhd (DEFTECH) factory in Pekan. Also present at the time was the then Deputy Prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak.
Umno Chairman Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail said the misconduct by Mohd Isa had been discussed in detail before he was called to answer the charges.
Rithauddeen said Isa was found to have breached Article 2, 2.1, 2.2 and Article 5 of the Umno Members' Code of Ethics.
Article 2, 2.1 and 2.2, which relates to the abuse of authority and money, also states:-
- Party members are prohibited from abusing any authority vested in them for the purpose of garnering votes or support or using influence in any party election for themselves or others or persuading against voting for anyone in the party elections.
- Party members are prohibited from giving or receiving or allowing their wives, children or anyone else from giving or receiving on their behalf, directly or indirectly, any gifts or money from or to any Umno member:
a) regardless whether the giving of the gift is connected in whatever way to the party election.
b) regardless whether it is in the form of money, material, free fare, transport facility, service, entertainment or any other benefit, apparent or otherwise.
Article 5, which relates to functions and meetings, also states:-:
- Party members are prohibited from organising any gathering, meeting, reception and any function involving Umno members in connection with any election for any party post.
Former Prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad and former Finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah are two senior Umno politicians who have publicly condemned the nomination of a person found guilty of money politics by his own political party.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has swept aside the concerns of both the public and senior veteran politicians. It appears that their objections and warnings have been disregarded.
Soon after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak came to power in April 2009, he said that the eradication of corruption was to be made a top priority and that it would be one of the six top subjects for his KPI (key performance indicators).
With the appointment of Mohd Isa, mixed messages are sent out to the electorate. It reinforces the public perception that those in power are not just corrupt but are also arrogant. Najib has managed to insult voters and show his contempt for the public with his latest decision.
We now have an insight into what sort of government he wants to run. He has absolutely no idea about accountability and responsibility. His choice of candidate to helm Felda is a sorry reflection of his own integrity and his capabilities.
Did he have to put Mohd Isa, a man who is unable to resist temptation and who is not averse to putting his hands in the till, to be in charge of an institution which his father started?
It is not just an insult to the electorate but it is a bigger insult to the memory of his father, Malaysia’s second Prime minister, Abdul Razak Hussein Al-Haj, without which FELDA would not have come into being. - Malaysia Chronicle
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