Hasan Ali was sacked for exposing corruption in Selangor

Hasan Ali joined the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Government in March 2008. In January 2012 he was sacked from the party and the government for criticising his own party and for exposing corruption and abuse of power in the state government. One of those he exposed was the then Selangor State Financial Officer, Mohd Arif, who DAP wanted promoted to Selangor State Secretary but whom HRH the Sultan rejected.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Hasan Ali was sacked for exposing corruption and abuse of power in the Selangor State Government

Dr Hasan Mohamed Ali of PAS won the Gombak Setia state seat in Selangor in the March 2008 general election and was appointed an EXCO Member of Selangor. However, Hasan, although a senior member of his party and of the Selangor State Government, was very vocal and criticised the government plus exposed the corrupt acts and abuse of power in the state.

Hasan’s critics then accused him of working for Umno and of being an Umno Trojan horse whose job is to bring down the Pakatan Rakyat state government. They even said that if the Pakatan Rakyat State Government can be brought down Umno would reward Hasan with the post of Selangor Menteri Besar.

In January 2012, at the insistence of DAP and PKR, Hasan was sacked from PAS and removed as the EXCO Member in the Selangor State Government. Hence ended the career of the PAS veteran who refused to keep quiet and kept exposing wrongdoings in the Selangor State Government. Hasan mistakenly thought that freedom of speech includes freedom to criticise the opposition and their own friends in the coalition.

On 26th March 2012, The Malaysian Insider reported the Hasan Ali episode, which you can read below.

Mohd Arif Ab Rahman was exposed seven years ago but only now arrested and made to face the music

Now, what is most interesting about The Malaysian Insider’s report is the fact that Hasan mentioned the State Financial Officer, Mohd Arif Ab Rahman, which we wrote about yesterday (When DAP quarrelled with the Sultan regarding Mohd Arif). It seems Mohd Arif has had a long-term relationship with Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali since the days when Anwar was the Finance Minister and Azmin was his secretary.

According to Hasan, Arif received RM250,000 a year from state-owned firms to go on overseas holidays plus a monthly salary of RM100,000 for “being a silent director” in all these companies. That is almost RM1.5 million a year on top of his government salary and perks. What The Malaysian Insider did not dare publish was the allegation that Mohd Arif was the frontman or bagman for Pakatan Rakyat and was collecting money on their behalf, half of which he takes as his ‘commission’ or ‘finder’s fee’. No one does business with Selangor unless there is a commission involved.

You can view Hasan Ali’s statement that was recorded on video here:

Tolong siasat Y.B. Dato` Mohd. Arif Bin Abd. Rahman – Hasan Ali

HRH the Sultan of Selangor rejected Mohd Arif’s promotion to Selangor State Secretary in January 2011 and this upset DAP who triggered a Constitutional Crisis by accusing His Highness of meddling

I know for a fact that a thick dossier of all these wrongdoings with all the evidence was handed to the MACC back in 2010. I also received a copy of these documents and, in fact, had published some of them. The MACC, however, decided not to do anything or NFA (No Further Action) with no explanation as to why they closed the file. We can only assume it was because at that time the MACC was the fourth coalition member of Pakatan Rakyat.

On 5th January 2017, a blogger posted a story titled Datuk Arif Pernah Didedahkan Rasuah Oleh Hasan Ali (READ HERE). The talk amongst PAS members is that Hasan was unjustly sacked for exposing corruption and abuse of power in the Selangor State Government, and that those who got rid of him have since left PAS to join PAN a.k.a. Amanah, DAP’s Muslim party, and that it was DAP and PKR who forced PAS (now all in PAN) to get rid of Hasan.

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HASAN ALI SAYS EXPENSES ABOVE BOARD, CLAIMS OTHERS SPENT MORE

(The Malaysian Insider, 26 Mar 2012) – Sacked Selangor executive councillor Datuk Hasan Ali insisted today that his expenses while in office of least RM850,000 that was questioned last week by Azmin Ali were all approved by the state government.

The former state PAS chief, who was sacked from PAS and the state government in January for continuously attacking Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for not respecting Islam, Malays and the royalty, also called on the state to investigate similar expenditure by other EXCOs and state subsidiaries.

“The renovations were for my EXCO office, to fit 19 staff. The cost is lower compared to the offices of Dr Xavier Jayakumar and Dr Halimah Ali,” the Gombak Setia assemblyman told a press conference, referring to his former EXCO colleagues.

Hasan also alleged that state financial officer Datuk Arif Abdul Rahman has been given RM250,000 a year by state-owned firms to go on overseas holidays and receives a monthly salary of up to RM100,000 for “being a silent director” on these companies.

On Friday, PKR deputy president Azmin accused Hasan of spending RM300,000 to renovate his office, RM550,000 for the launch of the Selangor Malay Customs and Heritage Corp (Padat) when he chaired the state body and bypassing open tenders for road maintenance contracts when he was EXCO for infrastructure and public amenities.

But Hasan said the Gombak MP “has no locus standi to question my credibility” as the latter has also not explained various financial and personal allegations.

He instead called on Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to order a full investigation into expenses made by other EXCOs and state companies.

“I want him to compare each EXCO and see how much we’ve spent per capita for each staff and floor space.

“Then we will see where is Hasan Ali. I am sure compared to some state companies, they have spent up to three times more,” he said.

He claimed the alleged benefits and wages received by SFO Arif from state-linked firms such as Kumpulan Darul Ehsan, Worldwide Holdings and PKNS since 2008 as an example of the lack of transparency in Khalid’s administration.

He also explained to reporters that RM550,00 was spent for the Padat event as there were several other programmes held in conjunction with the launch, all of which were approved by the state government.

Hasan was sacked from the party on January 8 after urging opposition supporters to avoid a rally the next day in support of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his sodomy trial verdict was handed down.

The former Selangor PAS chief was later also removed as state EXCO for religious affairs, Malay customs, infrastructure and public amenities.