Dr M did nothing to curb graft in Umno, says youth leader

FMT:

Dr M did nothing to curb graft in Umno, says youth leader


Wan Agyl Wan Hassan says the former prime minister had the power and responsibility to combat corruption in his own party.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says it was not his responsibility to micromanage the relevant authorities to address growing corruption within Umno during the 1990s.

PETALING JAYA: An Umno leader has denounced Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s refusal to accept responsibility for the party’s “culture of bribery” as “hypocrisy”, saying the former Umno president did nothing to tackle the problem when in office.

Umno Youth permanent chairman Wan Agyl Wan Hassan said as president at the time, Mahathir had both “the power and the duty” to take all steps to combat corruption within the party.

“He was the one who controlled everything and could have put a stop to any wrongdoing,” he told FMT.

“You (Mahathir) were the head of the government and the party. You had the final say on all matters. So, if there was corruption in Umno then, you, as prime minister and party president, ought to have taken action,” said Wan Agyl.

Rising to become Umno president in 1981, Mahathir led the party for approximately 22 years, during which time he also served as prime minister, until his retirement in 2003.

In an episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast released earlier, Mahathir said it was not his responsibility to micromanage the relevant authorities to address the growing corruption in Umno during the 1990s.

The former prime minister said the authorities should have taken action if they noticed any irregularites and “should not have waited for the prime minister’s directive”.

He said that while he could take responsibility for some of the issues that emerged during his tenure as president, he could not be blamed for the party’s “culture of bribery”.

However, Wan Agyl disagreed, saying Mahathir must accept full responsibility for corruption that emerged during his watch.

“He should be blamed, he was our leader. He allowed it to happen and he did nothing.”

In contrast, Wan Agyl said that, upon assuming the presidency, Najib Razak took steps to diminish the influence of money politics in Umno by expanding the number of delegates eligible to attend and vote at the party’s annual general assembly.

“When Najib took over the party from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he knew that money politics was rife, so he took action.

“He knew that having a small number of delegates would allow for corruption. People would be able to buy votes during party elections.

“Therefore, he expanded the number of delegates to make sure that the cost of vote-buying would be prohibitive,” he said.