Was the RM2.6 billion a donation after all?

I doubt Najib can reveal that just like Dr Mahathir will not reveal those donors to Umno and/or Barisan Nasional when he was Prime Minister for 22 years and five general elections or Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he was Prime Minister for six years and two general elections.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Dr M: Money in private account went for polls

(Malaysiakini) – Dr Mahathir Mohamad has claimed Umno was told that the money purportedly deposited into a private bank account was used in the last general election.

“There is no denial the money was deposited in the private account. The explanation to Umno is that it was for the elections. Umno seems satisfied.”

“Don’t they know that government money cannot be used to help a political party win elections?” Mahathir asked in his blog today.

“But the money was from donation. Who donated the RM2 billion? No answer,” he added.

Although Mahathir did not specify whose account he was referring to, it is believed that his remarks were aimed at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

READ MORE HERE http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/305620

***************************************************

I have written about this many times but it appears like no one is paying any attention. Since years back I had been saying that the general elections cost at least RM1.5 billion to RM2 billion each time. And someone has to pay this cost.

Tun Dr Mahathir knows this. He has known this long before he became Prime Minister in 1981. It actually became more costly since the 1982 general election and has increased every general election since then.

Eventually, even the Umno party elections became as costly as the general elections. That started during the time when Anwar Ibrahim took on Tun Ghafar Baba and ousted him as the Deputy President and later as the Deputy Prime Minister. (Sabah alone cost Anwar RM200 million).

In fact, Dr Mahathir blamed Anwar for the ‘money politics’ in Umno, which is a polite term for vote buying or corruption. And once the party adopts this culture of money politics it is very difficult to get rid of it after that.

During Dr Mahathir’s time they obtained funding through projects, contracts, concessions, privatisation, and so on, plus donations from businessmen, of course. In fact, the Hatibudi Sdn Bhd, United Engineers (UEM), Renong, the North-South Highway, Commerce Asset Holdings Bhd (now CIMB), and many more, were all fund raising exercises to finance the elections.

Then there was the privatisation of the rail transport system in the Federal Territory, the privatisation of the toll highways in the Kelang Valley, the privatisation of water concessionaires all over Malaysia, the privatisation of independent power plants all over Malaysia, etc. Either they were privatised to Umno companies, to Umno people, or to Umno cronies of all races.

Ultimately, many were actually nominees who held all these investments and assets in trust for Umno (while taking a cut of the action, of course, which was the deal). And all these, even the cash in personal bank accounts, belonged to Umno.

Dr Mahathir is giving an impression that he is surprised and was not aware of this. He makes it appear like it is news to him that the Prime Minister could be holding large sums of cash in his personal name on behalf of Umno, which is then used to finance the general elections.

How can he be surprised when it was he who started this practice of not using Umno directly but of using nominees to hold Umno’s estimated RM100 billion fortune in cash, investments and assets?

In the past, during the time of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak Hussein and Tun Hussein Onn, Umno financed the general elections through donations from Chinese businessmen or towkays. (At that time there were no Malay tycoons. Then Dr Mahathir decided to create Malay tycoons as nominees of Umno).

That would work if you were talking about just a few hundred million Ringgit. But when it touched billions that would no longer be possible. They needed other ways to get money and that was when Dr Mahathir created the Umno nominees and parked all the assets, projects, investments, and so on, under these nominees.

Tun Daim Zainuddin knows this because he created many of these nominees. Anwar Ibrahim, too, knows this because he, too, created many nominees, some who today are in PAS and PKR. And, of course, Dr Mahathir created his nominees as well. (Maybe Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah can tell us more about this because during his Semangat 46 days he had already spilled the beans).

So can we stop this drama and pretending? You know what went on for more than 30 years. I know what went on for more than 30 years. So do not pretend and act as if you are shocked that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak may have, or may have had, RM2.6 billion in his personal bank account that may have been used to finance the 2013 general election.

That is how Umno does things and has been doing so since the beginning of general elections in Malaysia in 1955, 60 years ago. The amounts may have changed. The methods may have changed. But the way Umno does business has not changed.

So, Umno is corrupted and therefore must be kicked out and replaced with Pakatan Rakyat. Maybe so, but many of those you regard as ‘criminals’ who used to be in Umno (and who raised money through such methods) are now in the opposition. And are you telling me that Pakatan Rakyat does not also do the same to raise money for the elections?

If you believe that then you probably also believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. Every fooking political party does it, both in Barisan Nasional as well as in Pakatan Rakyat. Ask all those ex-Umno people in Pakatan Rakyat. Ask Zaid Ibrahim who is screaming for clean politics. Every fooking political party does it, both in Barisan Nasional as well as in Pakatan Rakyat.

“Don’t they know that government money cannot be used to help a political party win elections? But the money was from donation. Who donated the RM2 billion? No answer,” said Dr Mahathir.

What the fook is Dr Mahathir trying to say? Umno has been using the government to make money to finance the general elections since he became Prime Minister in 1981. What do you think all those projects, contracts, water and highway concessions, privatisation of power plants, etc., were all about if not to use the government to make money?

Dr Mahathir is suggesting that the RM2.6 billion may not have been 1MDB’s money after all but a donation from someone. And Dr Mahathir wants to know who this donor is.

Will Dr Mahathir reveal those donors to Umno and/or Barisan Nasional when he was Prime Minister for 22 years and five general elections or when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was Prime Minister for six years and two general elections?

Maybe Najib can tell Dr Mahathir, “Show me yours and I will show you mine.” I don’t mean show their dicks but show where the money to finance the general elections came from and the full list of donors over 34 years from 1981 to 2015.