PKR and corruption
Salleh Said Keruak
“Ex-PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Noor has challenged former mentor Anwar Ibrahim to make public the six boxes of documents the latter claims to have containing evidence of corrupt practices by high-ranking government officials,” reported Malaysiakini on 18th August 2008.
Yes, in 1998, Anwar Ibrahim announced that he had six boxes of evidence regarding corrupt acts committed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Daim Zainuddin and other key people in Mahathir’s government. For ten years until 2008, however, not a single piece of paper was ever produced, let alone six boxes or even just one box.
Five years later, PKR, again, brought out allegations of corruption. But this time the allegations were against their own people, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, and the person making those allegations was the party secretary-general, Saifuddin Nasution. Saifuddin, in fact, showed the public one thick file that was supposed to contain the evidence against Khalid.
Because of these allegations, Khalid was forced to resign from his post of Menteri Besar. Khalid then sued Saifuddin, who withdrew the allegation and apologised to Khalid — instead of showing the court the evidence of Khalid’s corrupt acts, which Saifuddin said he had in his possession. Khalid, however, was not reinstated as Menteri Besar.
Now, barely two years on and new allegations of corruption are being made by PKR’s new secretary-general, Rafizi Ramli, against the Selangor government or leaders in the Selangor government. This time, however, no one has been asked to resign like Khalid was because no names were mentioned in those allegations. Instead, PKR has asked Rafizi to send the evidence to the MACC so that the Anti-Corruption Commission can take the necessary action against the guilty parties
