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Sunday, January 22, 2023

Umno info chief blasts Hadi for calling GE15 handouts 'charity'






Umno info chief blasts Hadi for calling GE15 handouts 'charity'


Umno information chief Isham Jalil took a swipe at PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for defending the act of distributing cash to voters during the last 15th general election.

Isham (above) said in a statement that going by Hadi's logic, any individual could offer "handouts" during the campaign period without taking into consideration any expected returns.

"Therefore, if the contractor for a flood mitigation project who secured an RM15 billion contract via direct negotiations wishes to give money to Perikatan Nasional or PAS politicians in government, that too can be categorised as a 'donation'.

"And they (politicians) use this money to 'donate' to voters during an election," Isham jested.

He said this in response to Hadi's reported defence of PAS' act to offer “charity” to voters in GE15, claiming such a practice did not go against election laws that only forbids a candidate or their representative from doing such things.

Commenting further, Isham said giving alms does not involve expecting returns from the recipients.


PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang


“If a transaction involves an exchange, that is not giving alms but more to a business, bribing, corruption or others aside from giving alms.

"Giving money to voters during an election and asking them to take an oath to vote for PAS, that is not charity, that is a bribe or corruption," stressed Isham, adding that there was no need for Hadi to justify bribing voters.

"If bribing voters is permissible, where is our country's political and democratic system heading when a party and its members can easily bribe voters in the name of doing charity to win an election?" he asked.

Isham alleged that the money distributed was earned through dubious means involving government funds while PAS was in federal power before GE15.

Taking another dig at PAS, he said the recent incidents exposed how "religious men" are not immune to the temptations of money and corruption.

On Jan 3, the Terengganu Umno liaison body filed election petitions to annul the results of the recent general election for the Kuala Terengganu, Marang and Kemaman parliamentary constituencies.

Terengganu Umno chief Ahmad Said said the petition raised allegations that PAS had bribed voters by distributing financial aid from the state government through the i-Pension, i-Belia and i-Student initiatives between Nov 15 and 17, 2022 - which was just a few days before GE15.

Reform political funding rules

Overall, Isham supported calls that started during Pakatan Harapan's time as the federal opposition for reforms in political funding.

He said the changes were necessary to encourage more youth participation in politics, without any bribery or corruption.

"Otherwise, only the rich and corrupt can succeed in politics and decide the policies for Malaysians.

"The people who are genuine, of good character, not wealthy, will not stand a chance to succeed in politics when up against 'charity' from the rich and corrupt. This is not good and not right," he added.


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