Kadir stands by ‘vote buying’ claim

The former Umno minister says that he will not retract his accusation but denies that he too had dabbled in money politics.

UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Umno minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said today that he will not retract his statement that the ruling coalition used money to buy votes in past elections but denied doing so himself.

He accused the mainstream media of twisting his words when it reported his supposed confession that the same practice took place in his former constituency of Kulim (now Kulim Bandar Baharu).

“I have said that the use of money to buy votes did occur since 40 years ago,” he told a press conference at his office at the Mines Waterfront Business Park here.

“But in Kulim, which I represented for 30 years, we have never needed to buy votes, whether during party polls or the general election,” added the former Umno supreme council member.

In what appeared to be a retaliation to his attacks, BN-linked media on Sunday quoted Umno Kampung Air Merah branch chairman as criticising Kadir for his accusations against the ruling coalition.

Mat Saad Osman had challenged the former federal minister to sue the media if he was indeed misquoted on the matter.

Kadir blasted the media for misquoting him and criticised his detractors who attacked him based on the inaccurate report. The former minister’s critics had even called him “crazy” and said he should be sent to a mental hospital.

‘Move on’
The deputy president of Angkatan Amanah Merdeka (Amanah) had been critical towards his own party, often accusing them of power abuse and warned them of rising public anger.

But he denied allegations that his criticism was made out of frustration and said he maintains a good relationship with his party and current government leaders despite his disapproval of “how things are run”.

Even so, Kadir said it was time for everyone to move forward and not “dwell in the past” in expressing confidence that the Najib administration would try its best to combat money politics.

“I am confident the party leadership knows the things we did in the past that were not good… perhaps at the time such actions were overlooked but today it is no longer the case”.