Datuk NAZRI: DON’T Just Talk, SHOW PROOF, Dr MAHATHIR - BRIBERY Allegation in DEFEAT; NOR YAKCOP: Mahathir ISSUE was also NOT Bothering Investors.
Dr Mahathir speaking to newsmen at the press conference at his Perdana Leadership Foundation officeUpdate: Sep 12 06,Tue
Dr Mahathir Asked To Report Money Politics To Umno Disciplinary C'tee;
PETALING JAYA, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should lodge a report with the Umno disciplinary committee if the former prime minister has proof of bribery in Saturday's election of Kubang Pasu delegates, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Tuesday.
"If there's any complaint on money politics it should be lodged with the disciplinary committee accompanied with specific proof or information that can be used as the basis for an investigation by the disciplinary board.
"We definitely want to wipe out money politics as a commitment by the party leadership but we cannot act without any proof or complaint to the disciplinary board," said the deputy prime minister and deputy Umno president.
He was speaking to reporters after opening the 9th National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Conference and Exhibition on Occupational Safety and Health" here.
Dr Mahathir, who is also former Umno president, told a news conference yesterday that he failed to get elected as a Kubang Pasu Umno division delegate to the party's general assembly in November because of money politics. He emerged ninth among 15 candidates vying for the seven delegates seats.
He also said that he would not report the matter because he had no faith in the disciplinary board.
Najib said: "The Umno disciplinary board is an independent body and is not under the party leadership. The disciplinary board has done its work all this while and we know that even those holding high posts in the party had been found guilty."
He said the procedure was that there had to be a formal complaint for the allegation to be investigated and anyone from the Kubang Pasu division could make a formal complaint and it need not be Dr Mahathir himself.
Asked on another statement by Dr Mahathir that he would continue to speak out against any decisions taken by the government which he felt to be wrong, Najib said there was no way anyone could stop Dr Mahathir from talking.
"He feels strongly about certain things. There is no way we can stop him from saying those things. The important thing is that we are able to convince the people that the policies we had taken, the decisions that we had made are in the best interest of the nation and the people.
"That is what matters in the final analysis, because you can't expect us to agree to whatever he (Dr Mahathir) says but this does not mean we do not respect him as a person...we certainly respect him as a person, but that does not mean that the government would agree to whatever he says or wants," said Najib.
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Dr Mahathir Accepts Defeat But Claims There Was Bribery;
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he accepted his defeat in Saturday's contest to become a delegate of the Kubang Pasu Umno division to the party's general assembly, but claimed that it was due to bribery among the delegates.
"Of course I have to accept. If I say I don't accept it, does it mean that it will be rendered null and void?
"Everybody has been asked to accept the result. But I believe my defeat was due to bribery among the delegates," he told reporters, here Monday after speaking to his supporters at the Perdana Leadership Foundation office here.
To substantiate his allegation of bribery, Dr Mahathir said a brown envelope containing the numbers of those who should be chosen was provided to a number of delegates and the people who won were the people in the list.
ABOVE: UMNO delegates in traditional dress casting their votes. NO Brown envelopes can be seen, hidden underneath the "sarongs"?
During Saturday's election, the former prime minister emerged ninth in the list of 15 aspirants but his son Datuk Mukhriz, was elected as one of the seven delegates to the assembly.
Dr Mahathir said the delegates were given a brown envelope containing the list of the representatives that should be chosen together with "some amount of money".
"The list I believe was put in the envelope together with RM200. So, the price of honour of these delegates is RM200, and for RM200 they are quite prepared not to choose me but to choose other people.
"This is the kind of election that we see, and it is going to be pervasive and these people will use everything to win elections. I accept that I lost but I also want to state that I lost because people used bribery in order to win elections," he said.
By Jalil Hamid
PUTRAJAYA,
The 81-year-old made the remarks after his humiliating defeat within the ruling party at the weekend, when he failed in a bid to become a delegate at the party's upcoming annual assembly.
At the election on Saturday, Mahathir was unable to to win enough votes in his own home state to be elected as a party delegate. He had needed some 240 votes.
The man who led the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to five straight general-election victories, and ruled for 22 years, polled just 227 votes.
"Either he changes or he steps down," Mahathir, who had wanted to air his grievances at November's assembly, said of his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
"I will continue to expose all the misdeeds. They can try to shut me up. They can try to cut me out from all the media. They can try to stop me from talking....the only way they can stop me is to throw me in jail," he told reporters in Putrajaya, the administrative capital.
Mahathir, who accuses Abdullah of hurting the national interest by shelving important state projects, said party members had been bribed to vote against him.
"I lost because they used bribery in order to win the election," Mahathir said at his Perdana Leadership Foundation, a thinktank whose offices have become a base for his supporters.
He also accused Prime Minister Abdullah of turning the UMNO-dominated ruling coalition into a family affair.
"I have a duty to correct things which go wrong to make sure that this country goes along the right path and to make sure this country is not made use of by anybody for their own personal or family interests," Mahathir said in an extraordinary outburst.
"The Barisan Nasional (coalition) government has been turned into the government of the family of Datuk Seri Abdullah," he added, using Abdullah's honorific.
'SHOW PROOF'
Abdullah is overseas, but the minister in the prime minister's department, Nazri Abdul Aziz, denied Abdullah's family was profiting from his position and also rejected the allegation that UMNO members had been bribed to vote against Mahathir.
"Don't just talk, show proof. There are also allegations that people were giving money to vote for him (Mahathir). This is mere speculation," Nazri told Reuters by phone.
The government and UMNO had feared Mahathir would use the assembly to make a highly embarrassing attack on the prime minister. Internet blogs were full of speculation that Mahathir wanted to inspire a party mutiny that could topple Abdullah.
Mahathir has consistently denied this.
But political analysts say Mahathir's defeat in the small town of
"He looks like he's very alone," said Ooi Kee Beng, a fellow of the
Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said after a meeting with foreign and local fund managers in Putrajaya that the Mahathir issue was also not bothering investors.
"It's not an issue," he told reporters.
Abdullah has so far declined to engage in public debate with Mahathir and says he is still pursuing his predecessor's main policy thrust, for
After Mahathir's defeat at the weekend, Abdullah told reporters travelling with him in
Shahrir says Dr M’s loss signals the end of an era from STAR
JOHOR BARU: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s failure to be elected as a delegate to attend the Umno general assembly signals the end of a political era, Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad said.
He said Dr Mahathir’s loss reflected the dwindling support for the former prime minister.
“Although he became Prime Minister in 1981, Dr Mahathir’s era started in 1987 when he defeated Tun Musa Hitam and Tan Sri Razaleigh (Hamzah) for the top post.
“That signalled his prominence and the end of Tun Abdul Razak’s political legacy and philosophy,” he said after the Johor Baru Umno division meeting here yesterday.
Shahrir, who is division chief, supportedDr Mahathir's right to voice his concerns but they should be done in a closed-door meeting.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said Dr Mahathir’s loss sent the clear message that no individual was more important than Umno.
On a claim by Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir that division, state and federal machineries were used against his father, Nazri said: “He is only belittling the capabilities of delegates in making a good decision. They know what they are doing.” Nazri is Padang Rengas Umno chief and also Minister in the Prime Minister's Department.
Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said it was time for people to focus on the implementation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said Kubang Pasu did not elect Dr Mahathir because they did not have the heart to see him attending the general assembly as a division delegate.
Supreme council member Datuk Azalina Othman Said said Umno members should beware of certain people who have used Dr Mahathir to cause a split in the party.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang attributed Dr Mahathir’s failure in his bid to become delegate to a lack of democracy in the party.
======================
Malaysia's Mahathir accuses government of bribing ruling party members to
defeat him; By EILEEN NG Associated Press Writer; Sep 11, 2:34 AM EDT
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad accused the government on Monday of bribing ruling party members to
defeat him in party polls, and warned that his "big mouth" won't stop criticizing the current leader and his family.
In some of his most combative comments since starting a one-man anti-government campaign about a year ago, Mahathir also challenged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign.
"Either he changes or he steps down," Mahathir, 81, told reporters. Otherwise, "the only way they can stop me is to throw me in jail," said Mahathir, who gave up power in October 2003 after 22 years as prime minister.
Mahathir accuses Abdullah - the man he hand-picked to lead
Abdullah denies the charges, and the entire Cabinet has stood behind him. Their pleas to Mahathir, a revered elder statesman, to end the diatribe have been largely ignored and raised fears that it could split the ruling United Malays National Organization party.
Mahathir's credibility suffered a dramatic blow on Saturday when he failed to win election as one of seven delegates representing the Kubang Pasu district at UMNO's annual congress in November. Kubang Pasu is in Mahathir's home state, Kedah, and is considered his stronghold.
Mahathir's plan was to give a speech at the congress to take his fight into the heart of the ruling party.
Mahathir will still be invited to the congress as a former party president, but the right to give a speech is typically limited to current top office-bearers and delegates representing UMNO's nearly 200 local divisions.
Despite the election loss, "I am not going to stop exposing this government's misdeeds," Mahathir earlier told a few dozen supporters at his office. "You can try to shut me out but I have got a big mouth. I am going to use this big mouth."
Mahathir claimed he lost the election because party members in Kubang Pasu
were bribed and persuaded by the government to vote against him. He said
each delegate was given 200 ringgit (US$55; ?43) and a list of candidates
they should vote for, but didn't offer any proof.
"I lost because of lies and bribery, but morally I have won. For this very small election the state government and the federal government mobilized forces that made it appear to be a presidential election," he said.
The government did not immediately respond to Mahathir's allegations. "You should be proud of yourself because you have used the biggest sledgehammer to kill one single wee mosquito," he said.
"They will try to stay in power but one day truth will prevail. They will pay a price for converting the Malaysian government into a family government of ... Abdullah Ahmad Badawi," he said.
Mahathir's criticisms began last year, when he accused the government of not protecting the national car maker, which he had championed. He stepped up his attacks this year after Abdullah scrapped plans for a new bridge between
Mahathir has said if he isn't elected, UMNO leaders could claim his influence has dwindled and that his current opinions have failed to resonate with members.
Mahathir said he has no intention of coming back into politics.
"But I have a duty to correct things that are wrong and make sure this
country goes on the right path and is not made use by anybody for their own
personal or family interests.
____
http://www.sun2surf.com
DrM: Only jail can stop me from talking
R. Manirajan Updated: 06:37PM Mon, 11 Sep 2006
PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today (Sept 11, 2006) declared that his defeat in Kubang Pasu was not the end of the road for him and that the government will have to throw him in jail to stop him from continuing with his criticisms.
Mahathir blamed money politics for his failure to be elected as a Kubang Pasu delegate to the Umno general assembly in November and vowed to continue his confrontation with the party and government.
At a press conference, he provided what he alleged was evidence of money politics - a brown envelope that contained RM200 and a piece of paper asking delegates who received it to vote only for certain people.
"There was this piece of paper in the envelope asking delegates to vote candidates according the ballot list - 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 14. But number 14 was not elected and instead my son Datuk Mukhriz was elected.
"I saw the candidates' numbers and true enough, the numbers on the list were the ones that won. This is the honour of the Malays ... worth RM200."
Mahathir admitted the evidence may not stand up in a court of law, but he would not report to the Umno disciplinary committee as he did not trust it and witnesses would also not come forward as they had been threatened.
"I was told by someone that people saw a briefcase sent from
Mahathir said he received the slip of paper from a delegate who came to shake his hands.
On Saturday (
In today's press conference, Mahathir also spoke to about 50 of his supporters who came to the Perdana Leadership Foundation uninvited to show their support.
He reiterated that he would continue to expose what the government was doing.
"You can't try to shut my mouth ... because I have a big mouth and I am going to use my big mouth to expose the misdeeds of this present government, including their lies," he said.
"The truth will prevail one day and we have to pay for it, including for changing the Malaysian government into a family government.
"(The) only way they can stop me is by putting me in jail. They are afraid of me and if they are not in the wrong, there was no need for them to be afraid of me."
Asked if he wanted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down, Mahathir said: "Either he changes or he steps down."
Asked if this meant he wanted to see a change of government, he said: "Change of policies or government is for Umno to decide."
Mahathir spoke again about issues he had touched on, like sale of raw water to
He also called for an independent audit into Proton and Khazanah Nasional.
posted by multidimid at 11:03 PM
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