Mahathir dah mengamuk, Anwar bebai dan Najib tersengeh2...

Dr M: Yang tak layak menang kerana wang...

Ramai orang yang tidak layak menang dalam pemilihan Umno baru-baru ini ekoran wang yang ditaburkan mereka, dakwa bekas perdana menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
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"Kita diberitahu bahawa mereka menghapuskan rasuah dalam pemilihan Umno baru-baru ini, saya tidak yakin.

"Saya rasa banyak wang terlibat, sehingga berjuta ringgit dan ramai orang yang tidak patut diundi mendapat undi kerana wang yang mereka belanjakan," katanya dalam ucapan di Putrajaya hari ini.

“Banyak wang yang diberi hingga nilai berjuta ringgit dan itu menjadikan mereka yang tidak layak telah dipilih disebabkan wang yang diberi,” katanya di Putrajaya pagi ini.

 "Saya pernah menang, kalah dan menang tanpa bertanding dalam pilihan raya. Keadaan yang paling tidak menyeronokkan bagi pengundi di kawasan saya, apabila saya diisytihar menang tanpa bertanding kerana tiada wang untuk beli nasi lemak dan rokok.”

Katanya, jika ada pertandingan maka calon sanggup berbelanja besar untuk mendapat sokongan.

Menurutnya, rasuah dalam pilihan raya bermula selepas negara mendapat kemerdekaan apabila pengundi mula bertanya apa yang akan diperoleh jika mengundi calon tertentu.

“Semenjak itu, kita melihat pilihan raya demi pilihan raya, soalan itu juga yang diajukan. Mereka tidak lagi melihat kepada pembangunan negara tetapi kepentingan diri sendiri.

“Menjual undi menjadi budaya dan pembangunan negara tidak lagi dihiraukan. Apabila hal itu telah berleluasa, rasuah menjadi biasa,” katanya.

Dr Mahathir berkata perkara itu turut melibatkan penjawat awam di mana dari menteri ke pegawai,mengharapkan balasan dalam tugas berbanding menjalankannya sebagai tanggungjawab.

Walau bagaimanapun, Dr Mahathir berkata masalah ini boleh dibetulkan.

“Ia boleh dibetulkan namun bukan dengan menghukum. Ya, hukuman perlu diberi kepada mereka yang bersalah tapi kita juga perlu memastikan semua projek kerajaan dibuat mengikut prosedur dan dalam jangka masa singkat yang diperuntukkan,” katanya.-TMI/Malaysiakini

Dr M: Undeserving in Umno won because of money...

Many people who did not deserve to win in the recent Umno party election emerged victorious because of the money they splashed, claims former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"We are told that they've eliminated corruption during the recent Umno election. I am not convinced.

"I think there was a lot of money involved, going into the millions and loads of people who should not be getting votes were getting votes because of the money they spent," Mahathir said in a speech in Putrajaya this morning.

Mahathir said this in his keynote speech 'Current political trends and their impact on the economic and social direction of Malaysia'.

He lamented that such corrupt trends were also seen in general elections where voters wanted to know what they could get in return for their votes.

The people were more patriotic in the past and such a thought was unheard off then.

"Initially we were all very nationalistic, we thought of the country... and the first few general elections were not much affectd by corruption.

"But the country has come to a stage are we accept corruption as part of our way of life and culture.

"So buying votes becomes a culture and it becomes the objective of the election. It is no longer about the well-being of the country," Mahathir said.

Relating his personal experience, Mahathir said supporters were upset when he won his seat in a general election uncontested.

"Because there will be no money for nasi lemak or cigarettes or allowances as the deal is done, so they would prefer to see a contest where there is some work to do.

"When there is contest, you need to go around to persuade people and candidates are willing to fork out money, so the minds of the people have become corrupted," he said.

'Corruption worsens'

Mahathir also gave a gloomy take on the future, saying that corruption would likely get worse.

In order to overcome corruption, the topmost leaders in the country must themselves be clean.

"Or else the ministers will say, 'how can you ask me not to be corrupt when you are worse'?" he said, but stressed that he was not referring to Malaysia as an example.

Mahathir suggested that one way to curb corruption in government would be to reduce the period required for government approvals (for projects and contracts).

This, he explained, would cut down time where government officers could possibily solicit for money or favours in exchange for approval.

"For as long as you allow government servants, inclduing ministers unlimited time to do their work, then obviously they are going to be offered some payment for (expedited) services and that leads to corruption," Mahathir said.

Later, about Mukhriz Mahathir losing his bid for vice-preisdency in the Umno party election, Mahathir said his son had no choice but to accept defeat.

"This is democracy. He lost... Even if he wants to complain about bribery, it is too late now," he said.

At a dialogue session that followed, defeated Umno supreme council candidate Saifuddin Abdullah echoed Mahathir's words.

"I lost the supreme council (race) and that was because of money politics lah," Saifuddin said when asked about his defeat.-malaysiakini

Anwar: Mansuh subsidi gula, taikun untung RM1bilion...

Syarikat taikun gula termasuk Central Sugar yang dimiliki jutawan Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, boleh mencapai keuntungan hampir RM1bilion ekoran penghapusan subsidi gula dalam Bajet 2014 yang diumumkan Jumaat lalu, kata Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar yang juga bekas menteri kewangan berkata ekoran penghapusan subsidi itu juga, industri gula itu akan dimonopoli satu lagi syarikat, Malaysian Sugar Manufacturing, yang dimiliki Felda Golbal Ventures.

Membahaskan Bajet 2014 di Dewan Rakyat hari ini, Anwar berkata pendapatan kasar industri gula sekitar RM4 bilion setahun dan pada kebiasaannya keuntungan sebelum cukai syarikat gula adalah sekitar sembilan peratus.

"Setelah kemasukan syarikat dimiliki Tan Sri Mokhtar ke dalam sektor ini, keuntungan sebelum cukai telah melonjak naik kepada 15 peratus.

"Dengan penghapusan subsidi, keuntungan sebelum cukai syarikat-syarikat di dalam sektor ini, dijangka melonjak ke 20 hingga 25 peratus, dengan pengumpulan keuntungan hampir RM1 bilion, akibat pengukuhan monopoli oleh kedua syarikat ini," katanya.

Sehubungan itu, Anwar mempersoalkan mengapa syarikat korporat mendapat keuntungan berganda akibat penghapusan subsidi gula, sedangkan rakyat dibebankan dengan kenaikan harga barang makanan itu

Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, pada Jumaat lalu, mengumumkan penghapusan sebanyak RM551.25 juta subsidi gula dalam Bajet 2014 dan menyebabkan kenaikan harga gula sebanyak 34 sen bagi sekilogram.-malaysiakini

Subsidy removal gives sugar tycoons RM1bil more...

Sugar tycoons in the country, mainly the politically connected Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary's Central Sugar Refinery, can chalk up profits of RM1 billion as a result of the government's abolition of the sugar subsidy in the 2014 Budget, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said today.

"Without the abolition of the subsidy, profit before tax for companies in this sector can go up by 20 to 25 percent," Anwar said when debating the budget in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said sugar companies normally posted a nine percent pre-tax profit, but this increased to 15 percent once Syed Mokhtar's company entered the fray.

Central Sugar and Malaysian Sugar Manufacturing (owned by Felda Global Ventures) currently hold the monopoly over the sugar industry in the country.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last Friday announced the abolishment of the RM 551.25 million sugar subsidy, amounting to 34sen a kilogramme, in a bid to encourage Malaysians to be healthier.-malaysiakini

Anwar: Debating budget akin to 'talking to the deaf'...

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has likened his debate on the Budget 2014 akin to "talking to the deaf" due to the absence of both Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak to listen to his debate.

"Debating in Parliament here, it's like talking to the deaf," Anwar said during his debate, after Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP-Seremban) pointed out that no senior ministers were in the House to listen to the opposition leader's take on the budget.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim was the only senior cabinet member present at the debate.

Even Finance Minister II Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah was absent

"When I was the finance minister, if I tabled a budget on a Friday, I would come on Monday to listen to Gelang Patah (Lim Kit Siang, then Opposition leader)," Anwar said.

"Of course, sometimes (listening to Lim at the time) hurts my ears, but that is the practise of democracy," he added.

Anwar also claimed that the government, since being helmed by Najib, had "underestimated" it expenditure by an average of seven percent annually, resulting in supplementary budgets being tabled to plug the expenditure later in the fiscal year.

"The average rate of our expenditure growth is nine percent a year while our economic growth is only between four and five percent a year. This is untenable," he said.

Anwar noted that since Najib became prime minister, the government had overseen a consistent increase in operating expenditure, with an average increase of RM22 billion, or 13 percent, annually.

In contrast, he said the development expenditure allocated by the government has decreased over the past five years, at an average reduction of RM2 billion a year, or five percent annually.

Anwar said before Najib's era, the government used to allocate about 30 to 35 percent of the budget for development expenditure, but this has reduced drastically to only 20 percent of the budget under Najib.

The government has also abled two supplementary budgets every year since 2009, and based on that, Anwar said that the actual expenditure of the government would increase by another 10 percent over the numbers give in the 2014 Budget.

"Most probably the national deficit (for 2014) would increase to be higher than the 3.5 percent that the government has forecast for 2014," he said.-malaysiakini

Berbahas bajet macam bercakap dengan pekak

Perkara itu dimaklumkan dalam jawapan bertulis daripada Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim bagi menjawab soalan ahli parlimen Seremban Anthony Loke.

Beliau bertanya mengenai butir-butir bil elektrik dan air serta kos penyelenggaraan kediaman rasmi Najib dan timbalannya Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Dalam jawapan itu, Shahidan juga memberitahu, kompleks itu dibina atas tanah 42.5 ekar.

Ia dilengkapi kemudahan ruang pejabat, bilik-bilik mesyuarat, bilik tetamu serta kemudahan sokongan bagi membantu melancarkan urusan harian PM.

Shahidan juga berkata Kompleks Seri Setia - kediaman rasmi Muhyiddin pula - sebanyak RM865,458.56 telah dibelanjakan bagi tujuan pembayaran bil elektrik pada tahun yang sama.

Manakala sebanyak RM99,264.03 dibelanjakan untuk pembayaran bil air sepanjang tahun 2012.-malaysiakini

PM residence's RM2mil electric bill shocker...

The electricity bill for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's official Seri Perdana residence came up to more than RM 2.2 million in 2012.

This was revealed in a written reply from Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim to DAP's Seremban MP Anthony Loke recently.

In a press conference today, Loke claimed the figures mean that the total combined expenditure on electric bills’ for both the Seri Perdana and the Deputy Prime Minister's official Sri Satria residence, had shot up 40 percent in the last two years.

"How can the PM ask people to be more prudent when he is a big spender himself?" Anthony Loke asked.-malaysiakini

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