And do you really want Aminah as President of the MPPP? I would not even offer her the post of Chief Dogcatcher of the Council let alone its President. And if you know her personally then you would know why I say this. She just does not have right credentials to head the Council as its President.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Aminah Abdullah, the former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Penang Wanita chief, alleges that the party offered her RM80,000 as an inducement to withdraw from contesting the Penanti by-election. Aminah is one of the three independent candidates in the by-election that will be held on 31 May 2009.

She says she was also offered the post of President of the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) if she agrees to withdraw. Furthermore, she alleges, she was offered the post of Deputy Chief Minister 1 (DCM1) if she manages to win the by-election. According to Aminah, all these offers were made during the two or three meetings that were held before Nomination Day.

She also claims she recorded the three-hour meeting with the middlemen, one of whom is a special officer to a Penang state executive councillor and a PKR supreme council member. She said the meetings were recorded at her home in Jelutong on May 13. She then gave journalists who had attended her press conference a copy of the recordings.

Aminah said she refused the offers and claims she had photographs taken of her with the two people who came to meet her. Her family members took the photographs using mobile phones without the knowledge of these two PKR representatives who came to meet her.

"I am one who believes in justice and the truth and I am doing this not out of spite but to counter the allegations made by PKR state chief Datuk Mohd Zahrain Mohamed Hashim who wanted me to show the evidence that I was offered these inducements. I will lodge a report with the Election Commission on Tuesday and expose who they are," she said during a press conference held at her operations centre in Simpang Tiga Kubang Ulu. She has also lodged a police report at the Seberang Perai Tengah district police station for fear of her safety following her expose.

I can only say that the two PKR representatives who went to meet her — assuming that did happen — are pretty stupid. First of all, why offer her the post of President of the MPPP if she agrees to withdraw and then the post of DCM1 if she does not withdraw but stays in the contest and wins? It should be one or the other. And would it not be better for her to contest and win and become the DCM1 instead of withdrawing and getting appointed as merely the President of the MPPP?

And RM80,000 is just too small an amount. Aminah would need at least RM200,000 if she contests the by-election. That would be just to contest without any plans to win. If she really wants to win then she would need at least RM500,000, going up to RM2 million if Umno is also in the race and decides to spend big money, as they normally do as the last ten years has proven.

This means Aminah already has at least RM200,000 in her pocket or handbag and probably even more if she is serious about winning the by-election. What is RM80,000 to her then? I would have offered her at least RM500,000 or RM1 million if I really wanted her to withdraw. RM80,000 is a downright insult.

And do you really want Aminah as President of the MPPP? I would not even offer her the post of Chief Dogcatcher of the Council let alone its President. And, if you know her personally, then you would know why I say this. She just does not have right credentials to head the Council as its President. And DCM1? I think Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng would probably resign in disgust and join Gerakan if she were made Penang’s DCM1. I doubt the DCM2, Professor Ramasamy, would even consider this a joke. It is beyond a joke. It is like the Prof appointing his typist as his new boss.

Aminah has always been a troublemaker since way back. She has been the wedge between Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and the PKR Penang people. I remember one meeting that I attended when I brought some PKR Penang chaps along and she gave me a downright dirty look. She did not want any ‘outsiders’ in the meeting. She did not mind me being in the meeting. It was the other PKR Penang chaps that she resented.

In short, she wanted exclusivity. She and only she can have access to Wan Azizah. All others must be kept out. You just can’t run PKR Penang single-handedly. You need a team. But she prefers that PKR Penang be run as a committee of one and she was to be the sole committee member. Invariably, PKR Penang lost all their good people because of her. Many either just went into retirement or crossed over to Umno. They were utterly disgusted with what was going on in PKR Penang.

Appointing her the DCM1 would be suicide. Her first task would be to drive a wedge between PKR and DAP. She has already antagonised the PAS people whom she looks down on — even their State Assemblymen. The mind boggles as to why PKR did not get rid of her sooner. The longer she stayed as PKR’s Wanita chief the more damage she was causing the party.

It came to a stage that many preferred to stay away from PKR Penang and leave it to its own devices. The best thing that happened to PKR Penang was when she left. Now PKR wants her back as DCM1 or President of the MPPP or both? Heavens! What the hell is wrong with Anwar Ibrahim? Maybe it is time he stepped aside and allows someone else to run the party. Sheesh! Aminah as DCM1 and President of the MPPP? Rosmah Mansor is any time far more intelligent than Aminah.

It looks like Malaysia is suffering from PPP disease. No, I don’t mean the People’s Progressive Party, which now has two Presidents (okay, Confuses says ‘two heads are better than one, especially if they are on the same coin’ — while Umno says ‘heads I win, tails you lose, so never mind if the coin has only one head'). The PPP ailment I am talking about is an overdose of Politics, Prostitutes and Perak.

By the way, did you realise that prostitution is a RM3 billion a year industry? This excludes political prostitution, which, according to some calculations, is another RM2.5 billion a year. Why do you think they want to avoid another state election in Perak? The 59 state seats up for grabs — if a new state election is held — will cost another RM2 million each. This totals RM120 million. Then there is the cost for the police, election commission, etc., which would come to another few hundred million. And with the fast-track development and whatnot, we are talking about a possible RM2 billion in total. Kuala Terengganu alone cost RM600 million for just one parliament seat with the RM500 million special fund included.

Yes, RM3 billion for prostitution, RM2.5 billion for political prostitution, and RM2 billion for a new Perak state election. And we say that Malaysia has no money. Malaysia does have money but it is just that it is not being spent on the right things. And even when it is spent on the right things the leakages are very high. Just ask any businessman, local or foreign, and they will have horror stories to tell. You just can’t do business in Malaysia unless you pay. And the bill for all these extra and hidden costs are charged back to us, the taxpayers. So, invariably, we Malaysians end up paying for the PPP.

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