Now Umno says Rodziah is corrupt, what do M’sians think?

By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan

In what is seen as a clear attempt to embarrass Selangor Pakatan Rakyat leader Rodziah Ismail, five officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission tried to barge into her office at the state secretariat building.

But lacking basic procedure, they were promptly turned away by her lawyers Salim Basheer and Ariff Azami.

“We pointed out to them that they did not comply with the legal requirement to issue a notice and to specify what documents are needed from our client,” Ariff told reporters on Wednesday.

Rodziah is the PKR assemblyman for Batu Tiga. She is also an executive councillor in charge of welfare, women affairs, science technology and innovation.

At the time the MACC officers tried to raid her office, which was around 2.45pm, she was at an exco meeting.

The officers left the secretariat building about an hour later without offering any reasons to her staff or even her lawyers as to what they wanted from her.

However, it is believed that the MACC investigation is related to the distribution of state allocations for the Sementa constituency, an Umno-held state seat but which is under Rodziah’s purview.

In the past days, there have also been lurid but unsubstantiated accounts of Rodziah’s misconduct splashed all over pro-Umno blogs. It is also believed that Umno-backed NGO Gerak had lodged a report against her.

Unrelenting chase for power at all costs, using all means

Of late, Umno has gone on the offensive against the Pakatan-led Selangor state government. Pushed by Prime Minister Najib Razak, the Selangor Umno chief, they have relentlessly accused Pakatan elected representatives of corruption and misuse of state allocations.

Although baseless, their efforts have nevertheless been able to gain shape thanks to the formality lent by MACC and the police, two federal agencies well known to be under the thumb of top Umno leaders like Najib.

Last month, both the PM and the MACC came in for a nationwide roasting for discriminating against seven Chinese Pakatan assemblymen.

Their chase for power at all costs and through all means resulted in the tragic death of Selangor political officer Teoh Beng Hock.

Even now, an inquest is underway as to why his body was found outside the MACC office after a marathon interrogation conducted outside of hours permitted by the law.

Yet Umno and the MACC see now wrong in their actions. They believe the only way to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public is to continue to push blindly forward. The ends justify the means – or so they believe.

This time though they have slightly altered their modus operandi. They have decided to go after a Malay. Sadly for them, Rodziah has a fantastic reputation and is well respected by her peers of all races.

Time for change

Not that Pakatan representatives cannot be questioned. But there is undeniably a conspiracy and the selective prosecution is too blatant to stomach.

It is time for Malaysians to ask, why did the MACC publicly charge the Selangor state secretariat building this afternoon? Even when they had not complied with the basic legal requirement of prior notification.

Can it be the MACC officers are so ill-trained? Shouldn’t they be sacked then for sheer incompetence?

Or could the bungling be intentional? Could they be trying to any-how embarrass Rodziah?

Malaysians have already asked but must now SHOUT, how come they haven’t questioned former menteri besar Khir Toyo over a Balinese-style palace he built allegedly at a cost of RM24 million? A report was also lodged against him!

How come with the wealth of photographic evidence before them, they have still not cordoned off the super-luxury mansion in Section 7, Shah Alam to do a proper valuation and investigation?

Or could it be they don’t wish to publicly embarrass Khir – an Umno leader, of course.

It is time indeed for Najib to give some answers. As Prime Minister, Umno president and directly in charge of the MACC, this is not the first time he has been asked such questions.

Neither will it be the last. Not for as long as he and his Umno party disrespects the intelligence of Malaysians.

Or could they think so highly of themselves that all other Malaysians are just idiots who will swallow any hook, line and sinker they feel like throwing out.