Corruption is corruption! — P. Ramakrishnan

OCT 8 — Corruption is corruption, Mr Prime Minister. There are no two ways about it. You cannot minimise the crime by camouflaging the offence under some other label. Neither can you make it disappear by simply declaring “that the offence committed by Isa was not an offence under the law”.

It is not true that Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad only breached party ethics. That would be a lie. He was found guilty of indulging in money politics to secure his victory in the Umno party elections for the post of vice-president in 1994. He won the post with the highest number of votes. In fact, he wasn’t satisfied with the number of votes he garnered. He then quipped that he expected to win his position with an even higher majority!

Following his victory, complaints were lodged with the Umno disciplinary board accusing Isa of having resorted to money to secure his victory. The disciplinary board instituted an investigation to probe into the allegations of money politics. It called up witnesses to collect evidence and establish proof of the allegation. Isa was given ample opportunity to defend himself. After what must be deemed as a very thorough and fair investigation, the disciplinary board found him guilty. He was stripped of his position and suspended for six years, a two-term period. On appeal, his sentence was drastically reduced to three years, a 50 per cent reduction. - + selanjutnya

Corruption is corruption! — P. Ramakrishnan