Phang: You’re arrogant, Nazri!
By Patrick Lee, Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: The government’s defence of election handouts is a sign of its disregard for the man on the street, said former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) official Robert Phang.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz had earlier attacked Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) for condemning election handouts as corruption.
Phang said that Nazri’s actions showed how arrogant the government was, especially with the Sarawak elections just around the corner.
“Such arrogance against an NGO should not happen as the Barisan Nasional approaches the Sarawak state elections. It only shows the disregard that BN politicians have for the rakyat’s views,” he said in a press statement.
Phang said that the minister should have been more careful with his words, as Malaysians would vote based on what they hear.
“He should be reminded that it is the men and women on the streets who will determine his and his political party’s fate at the ballot box,” he added.
Nazri had previously remarked that election handouts were not a form of corruption.
However, this statement was rubbished by TI-M president Paul Low, who argued that election sweeteners doled out during political campaigns were acts of bribery.
Responding to the accusations, the minister told TI-M to “shut up” and “mind its own business.”
Claiming to have a personal relationship with Nazri, the former TI-M member said: “I can appreciate his urge to be a ‘jantan’ but there is a place and time for that. Be a ‘jantan’ in championing the people’s cause.”
He warned the minister that such statements could confuse the public and would be a “great disservice” to MACC.
“I urge Nazri not to undermine the efforts of MACC Chief Commissioner Abu Kassim. BN politicians will be scorned by the rakyat if they have blinkered views on issues of public importance,” he said.
Gutter politics
In an unrelated matter, Phang said that Malaysian politics had reached a new low through the recent public screening of the alleged Anwar Ibrahim sex tape.
Describing it as a smear campaign against the opposition leader, Phang warned: “This reignites the disgrace we already suffered from being the brunt of scornful jokes in this region.”
