By : CT ALI
“Every political party has
the right to receive political donations” so said Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak. I agree that it is the right of any political party and any Barisan
Nasional politicians (you must not forget to say that) to accept donations.
You received RM4,000? Okay
lah! What about RM40,000? Still okay. And RM400,000 is very okay… the generous
donor must at least get a “thank-you” letter from Najib himself. How about RM4
million? Wow! Must at least have lunch and/or dinner with the prime minister. And
RM40 million? Mi Casa. Su Casa! (My house is your house or make yourself at
home!)
Granted that there would be
more than one or two businessmen donors who would willingly part with their
hard-earned RM40 million, then take all of them to dinner. Though, of course,
if you have given them more than billions in business profits, then it is they
who must take you out to dinner.
While chewing on that Wagyu
beef (tender, tasteful and wonderfully wrapped in rice paper and tripled seared
on an iron grill at RM100 an ounce), they might even ask you respectfully if
they can give you more… money, that is.
That Wagyu beef is too
expensive. Of course, there is that small matter of the Wagyu cows being given
beer to give them that special “oomph” but you don’t think about these minor
religious transgression when dining with millionaires.
This is the thing with Najib
– he knows how to behave in social circles and he knows just what to say.
You can fault his wife, his
handling of the Defence Ministry, Perak, Sibu, National Feedlot Corporation
(NFC) and a host of other “Najib expletive deleted debacles” but not his family
pedigree.
But he sure has to come down
to earth as we approach the 13th general election – tyres for taxi drivers and
now RM9 million in “gifts” for the Sikh community.
I wonder how that RM40
million donation to Sabah Umno (not to Chief Minister Musa Aman) is going to be
spent. I guess keeping the Umno’s “jentera” (machinery) happy is more important
than the Sikhs.
Did the MACC probe this
matter?
Now, Prime Minister, no
matter what you say about a political party’s right to give or take donations,
if you have any common sense, what would be the quid pro quo for such a
generous donation?
Quid pro quo means a more or
less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services: “a favour for a
favour” and the phrases with almost identical meaning include “give and take”,
“tit for tat”, “this for that”, and “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch
yours”.
It is almost beyond belief
that you can dismiss this matter with a one-liner “every political party has
the right to receive political donations”.
No wonder your deputy,
Muhyiddin Yassin’s friends are already staking out their preferred rooms on the
fourth floor of the prime minister’s office.
Whether they get into
government or not is another matter. They can dream, can they not? If the
voters do not kick you out, Muhyiddin will. Then the people will kick both of
you out.
Where does it say that RM40
million worth of political donation is okay?
Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz said that Musa and timber tycoon Michael Chia
have both been cleared of corruption after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) found that the funds were for the use of Sabah Umno.
Now, pray, tell me, Nazri,
did the MACC investigate this matter?
This comedy of errors from
Umno and its supporters will continue. I know that we are done laughing at
their antics because it is simply no longer funny when you see what they are
doing to our country, its economy and its future, unless you think that it is
hilarious that there are still businessmen around who will donate to Najib
because they still think that Najib will be prime minister after the 13th
general election.
For now let us take solace
in these thoughts. The NFC scandal got Pakatan at least hundred thousands extra
votes. This RM40 million donation debacle will get Pakatan another hundred
thousand votes. (FMT)
(NOTE: CT Ali is a reformist
who believes in Pakatan Rakyat’s ideologies. He is a FMT columnist.)
No comments:
Post a Comment