TABLE WHITE PAPER ON RM40M SCANDAL

 

HIDE....Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran said the government should show that it has nothing to hide.

By : G VINOD

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP MP M Kulasegaran challenged the government to table a White Paper in Parliament on the RM40-million scandal which implicated Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

“Show us that you have nothing to hide,” said the Ipoh Barat MP at a press conference held at the Parliament lobby today.

Also present were fellow DAP MPs Tan Kok Wai, John Fernandez and Fong Kui Lun.

Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Nazri Aziz told the Dewan Rakyat that the RM40 million seized from Michael Chia, a businessman close to Musa, at the Hong Kong International Airport in 2008 was a political donation meant for Sabah Umno.

“The money is now in Sabah Umno’s accounts. Even Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption [ICAC] had cleared it. Go and check for yourself,” said Nazir, the Padang Rengas MP.

At this juncture, PAS MP Khalid Samad stood up and said, “The answer is misleading. Just because it was not corruption in Hong Kong, it doesn’t mean it is not graft elsewhere.”

Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan defended Nazri, saying that even DAP had built a new party headquarters in Penang worth RM3.5 million, within two years of helming the state.

“You want to be transparent. All right. Tell us where you got the RM3.5 million? Don’t be a hypocrite,” he said.

Nazri later said that there was no problem with political parties receiving donations from their supporters.

“I have no issue with the DAP building since it’s from donation. Of course, we get more donations as there are more Umno supporters out there,” he said.

Explaining the matter, Tan said that the DAP is ready to publish the accounts for Penang DAP headquarters anytime.

“We got the funds from our fundraising programmes and every sen is accounted for. We’re not like other Barisan Nasional component parties and we challenge them to do the same,” he said.

On a related matter, Nazri said that so far six political figures were charged by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) with allegations of graft.

“They are one former menteri besar, two MPs, two state assemblypersons and one state executive councillor,” he said.

However, Nazri refused to reveal details on those still being probed by the MACC, citing restrictions imposed by the MACC Act 2009.

“Besides, this is a corruption case. If you reveal names, it may compromise evidence and witnesses for the case,” he said.