Unlike Taiwan's KMT, Umno is a financial pauper, squeezed dry by its own leaders

When Taiwan was a one-party authoritarian state, the Kuo Min Tang (KMT), which controls the Taiwan government, amassed a vast business empire of banks, investment companies, petrochemical firms, and television and radio stations, thought to have made it the world's richest political party in the world, with assets once estimated to be around US$ 2–10 billion.

This war chest had helped the KMT until the mid-1990s but eventually under President Lee Teng-Hui, the KMT closed ranks, facing a split in 1994 that led to the formation of the Chinese New Party, alleged to be a result of Lee's "corruptive ruling style".

The New Party has, since the purging of Lee, largely reintegrated into KMT but split back after defections and disagreements amongst the top leading to the formation of the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

Lee Teng-Hui was the main protagonist in the KMT as he misused the party’s funds for his own advantage leading to the weakening and side-lining of Taiwan’s grand old party which was founded by Chiang Kai-shek.

There are some parallels between the upheavals and disintegration of the KMT and UMNO.

UMNO in Malaysia

Unlike the popular perception that UMNO is 'filthy rich', the party is actually a pauper. Only its top leaders and their cronies are filthy rich. Instead of misusing power and sewing together deals to benefit the party, the UMNO elite has always engineered deals to directly benefit themselves, their families and their cronies.

Businessman Abdul Rahman Maidin revealed in the High Court in September 2010 that former premier Mahathir Mohamad had told him he could not claim reimbursement for money paid for seven million shares in Realmild Sdn Bhd because they belonged to UMNO.

Besides the various UMNO buildings all over the country and the PWTC as its physical assets, UMNO has not much money in its account - just sufficient to maintain and manage its daily organizational activities. This is unlike the KMT in Taiwan, which has a lot of money in the party’s own coffers, which was misused by its president Lee Teng-Hui.

The money needed by UMNO to finance its 'irregular' activities such as vote buying, enticement of opposition politicians and election campaigns is usually acquired through a tripartite link involving the UMNO-BN government, the UMNO-linked well-diversified conglomerates owned by UMNO trustees and the UMNO owned banks also held by trustees.

During Mahathir's time, Daim Zainudin who had little grassroots support, depended on Mahathir for all his political appointments. Daim was UMNO Treasurer, Finance Minister, and later, as the Government Economic Advisor, a post specifically created for him.

Daim was the most powerful figure in the corporate scene, as his business associates rapidly gobbled up Malaysia’s leading privatizations. Daim’s protégé, Halim Saad, for example, secured in 1990 control of the UMNO-owned multibillion ringgit privatized North-South highway project, and swapped it for majority ownership of Renong Bhd.

Sad to say, nothing has changed and the same unhealthy thing is going on with Najib. UMNO under Najib depends on tycooni Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, who owns the MMC group, Ahmad Jauhari who runs Malakoff Bhd, and CIMB which is controlled by Najib's own brother Nazir. At the same time Mahathir has his own financiers all connected to his sons, who are now 'filthy rich' and appear in the list of the world's richest men.

Former premier Abdullah Badawi has his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin to help him with some money - enough to stay afloat for some time - while another power-broker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has his own money and is spending prudently.

This leaves Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to scratch from the bottom of his own pocket while begging for help from some business associates. Besides the listed tripartite connections, there are other connections as well.

Green light to grab everything in sight

So since UMNO’s treasury is practically empty, Najib has given the green light to grab everything possible, sparking a free for all to make money or get their contributions in order to support their political survival. All the big wigs in Umno have in place 'contributions' from their respective tycoons, who back them unreservedly for a piece of the future pie.

The best example is in the case of the Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussin, whose own admission to receiving “political contributions” as alleged in an anonymous blog but denied that it amounted to corruption recently.

He further added, “Many companies give donations to fund social programmes for the people of Bachok (in Kelantan), my division. I have all the records, of who the money comes from and what it is used for,” quoted as saying by news reports.

Empty vessel

Like Malaysia, where almost all the people have to live amidst high household debt and in financial fear with the National Debt now at RM445 billion while natural resources and funds amounting to RM1 trillions are being siphoned in the black markets, UMNO is the same - an empty vessel whose funds have been grabbed by its various top leaders.

Llike Malaysia, UMNO has now just become a tool for the filthy rich and powerful to make more money. Those who are eager to inherit UMNO will ultimately be inheriting nothing at all but all the dirt and shame.

Like the KMT, UMNO will be despised and will eventually be rejected by the rakyat.

Malaysia Chronicle