Abolish Umno, not just wings, says Kit Siang

PETALING JAYA, Jan 29 — Umno disciplinary board chairman Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithaudeen’s call to abolish Umno’s Wanita, Youth, Puteri and Putera wings to curb money politics in Umno is insufficient but the entire party should be done away with, says DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang.

“Just as no one expects Rithaudeen’s proposal would be taken seriously by an Umno leader, nobody believes that it is possible to eradicate corruption in the country’s most corrupt institution, Umno, because of the sheer absence of such political will,” the opposition stalwart said.

“Rithaudden’s sense of despair and futility in the impossible battle against corruption and money politics in Umno caused him to make the radical proposal to abolish the various Umno wings.

“When will an honest and upright Umno leader make the next logical proposal – that UMNO be abolished altogether?” Lim asked rhetorically in a press statement.

Rithaudeen’s proposal has met immediate objection from vice president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Wanita chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and Puteri chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad.

Today, the top two in the party also rejected the idea as deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Umno will not abolish any of its wings as they are important in nurturing future leaders of the party while president Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi said that money politics would be dealt with other means.

“If Rithaudeen is right — and he is right — that the many elections for the Umno Youth, Wanita, Puteri and Putera wings created opportunities for money-making, all that Najib meant about ‘nurturing future leaders of the party’ is to give them opportunities to be adept in the art of corruption in Umno party elections,” Lim added.

The DAP supremo also questioned Rithudeen’s justification for not allowing the newly-minted Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) full jurisdiction over alleged corruption in the party.

In a New Straits Times report, Rithaudeen used the analogy of a doctor trying to operate while drunk, stating that the doctor can be charged for criminal negligence but also sued in a civil suit and stripped of his ability to practice by the Malaysian Medical Council.

In the same way, Umno’s disciplinary board conducts its investigations with the option of suspending a member independently of any action by the MACC.

Investigations by the MACC and the board will be done separately by each body and any sharing of information will be done on a case-by-case basis, he said.

However, Lim stressed that the board would be violating the law and committing crimes themselves if they withhold from the MACC any case of Umno money politics — which MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan had categorically called “corruption” in a separate New Straits Times interview on Jan 25.