The continuing saga of corrupt Umno culture

A former Umno veteran says most Umno Supreme Council members bought votes and now this culture, with the help of the prime minister, is trickling down to the rest of the country.

PETALING JAYA: Cash handouts, revised salaries and other financial perks given to Malaysians as polls approach are just an extension of Umno’s culture of buying votes for party positions, said former Umno veteran Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

Abdul Kadir, who was an Umno member of 56 years until he quit last year, told FMT in an exclusive interview that most Umno Supreme Council members gained their positions by bribing members up to millions of ringgit.

“In Umno, three million members elect 2,000 amongst them as delegates to the Umno General Assembly who will then elect the members of the supreme council. But these 2,000 members go and sell their votes, not all of them, but some of them. And it works! In Umno, it works!” revealed Abdul Kadir.

“You can really gain top positions in Umno by just buying votes. You don’t have to bother going down to the division, to the branches, to work hard, be popular with the rakyat.”

Abdul Kadir said this practice was so prevalent that when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was elected as Umno president in 2009, the latter joked in his closing speech “Inilah kita Umno dalam dilemma. Beri [wang] salah, tak beri, kalah.” (“We in Umno are in a dilemma. If we give out [cash], we’re in the wrong, but if we don’t give it out, we lose”).

“And everybody down there, the delegates, started clapping and laughing because they have been receiving,” recounted Abdul Kadir.

“And those on stage, the Umno Supreme Council members, also clapped because they have been giving. So it became a joking matter, something light – a culture that has to be accepted. ”

He said not all Umno leaders were comfortable with the culture, but had no other choice if they wished to hold on to their positions.

“Some are very reluctant to use money. I know some friends of mine, they do not like it. But as Najib joked, beri salah, tak beri kalah. So you lose, you lose your menteriship, you lose your menteri besarship, you lose your supreme council position.”

Abdul Kadir said what began as handing out a few hundred ringgit to grassroots members snowballed into millions.

“So in Umno politics, to get position, you need to have money, so you start to close one eye about using your position to acquire money. You’ve got to be corrupted. This is not good at all,” said Abdul Kadir.

Cash for rakyat’s votes

He said that because this culture of cash-for-votes worked so well in Umno, the same culture was now being transferred to the rakyat, through the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) vouchers and other cash handouts.

“And I tell you, if it can work with the elite of Umno, these 2,000 or so delegates, I’m sure it can work with the rakyat. That’s why you see money is being distributed and financial handouts being announced practically everyday,” said Abdul Kadir.

Last Tuesday, Najib had promised that the BR1M programme, which he initiated, would continue to be an annual handout. The one-time cash handouts of RM500 reportedly helped nearly five million families at a cost of RM2.6 billion last year, increasing Najib’s approval ratings up to 69 per cent.

“Politicians will not talk about [BR1M], especially politicians who are going to contest elections. I’m not going to contest, so I’m free to say I do not agree with cash handouts,” Abdul Kadir said.

“I prefer the government facilitate the rakyat to be more productive. Teach them how to fish, don’t just feed them the fish.”

He lamented the billions of ringgit spent on the cash vouchers that could have instead be channelled towards projects with long-term benefits to all Malaysians, including the BR1M recipients.

“For example, increase the funds for Tekun [Tabung Ekonomi Kumpulan Usaha Niaga], Amanah Ikhtiar [Malaysia] by a few billions, and then encourage the rakyat to go and open small business and so on,” he suggested.

These past few weeks have also seen the prime minister promising a slew of goodies to the rakyat, including one-off cash of RM500 to all Telekom Malaysia staff, 1,000 individual permits to taxi drivers, pension to staff of government statutory bodies and 20 minutes of free Internet service to the poor.

Najib had justified the benefits by stating the economy was booming and the government merely wished to share the wealth with the people, but Abdul Kadir dismissed this.

“That sounds so beautiful, but no. Do you want the people to give votes because of the money [the government gave them], or because of policies of the government?” he said.

“I’m very worried about the future. That’s something very sad – that you try to win over votes by giving them money.”

But he said he saw no possible end to this vote-buying culture and corruption within Umno, which was why he eventually left the party and formed Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia last year.