Will Pkr Become Ummo 2 0

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 “I don't practise the culture of kepit beg duit bawah ketiak (clutching a money bag under my armpit) to buy support,” said Rafizi Ramli.
The former PKR deputy president was responding to a former MIC leader, now in PKR, who slammed Rafizi for failing to “jaga” or “take care” of the grassroots.
Rafizi said that the MIC patronage culture should not be imported into PKR.
“What does he mean by take care? I don't give out RM5,000 or RM10,000 when visiting branches in exchange for support. I don't give out hampers,” said Rafizi, when launching his “Hiruk” election campaign.
ADSHe added that some women PKR candidates had bought tudung costing hundreds of thousands of ringgit for distribution.
“What's going on?” asked Rafizi.
Former PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail denied vote buying in party elections.
"I don't think PKR has reached that level,” he said.
But he added, “Bookings in five or six-star hotels are not appropriate.”
Honey attracts ants
Money politics is not new in PKR. Rafizi noted that it happened in the October 2018 party election when his team contested against the so-called “Azmin Ali cartel”.
Former PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli“Many quarters with money will be interested in the government party,” he said, as Pakatan Harapan had then just taken power in Putrajaya.
“You all will compete with money strewn all over the place. Some will offer between RM100,000 and RM200,000 to the divisions,” Rafizi warned members.
The G25 group of Malay luminaries said in 2020, "As everyone knows, money politics lies at the root of all the big corruption scandals in the country.”
Alleged money politics is probably the most disturbing issue raised in this year's PKR election.
Rafizi criticised Anwar Ibrahim for waiving the rule barring new members like R Ramanan (who came from MIC) from contesting party posts.
ADSHe proposed that only those who have proven themselves inside PKR for at least five years should be allowed to contest any party position.
This was to prevent the party from being infiltrated by outsiders seeking to buy influence with wealth and connections.
Rafizi explained that the battle in the party is one of real reformists vs opportunists.
“When PKR was struggling, members were putting up flags, arranging chairs, controlling traffic for party events,” he recalled.
Now, says Rafizi, when the party has power, it's like honey attracting ants.
In reply, Anwar claimed that the responsibility for selecting candidates lay with the party's “headquarters”.
“Everything that came to my desk, once the headquarters vetted… I approved them all.”
But hold on, isn't Anwar in charge of that “headquarters”?
From sarongs to 1MDB
Money politics in Umno began modestly in the 1960s with gifts of kain sarong. It culminated with the world-famous 1MDB scandal.
The late Zubaidah Abu Bakar of the New Straits Times wrote that the 1993 Umno election redefined money politics.
This was when Anwar wrested the Umno deputy presidency from Abdul Ghafar Baba.
Zubaidah recalled, “Delegates were feted at lavish dinners, checked into posh hotels, laden with gifts like pens, watches and holiday trips.
“Some were so well rewarded that they could afford to buy cars and renovate their houses after every election.”
The problem is that people also want freebies, gifts and yes, bribes. Perhaps it's a social disease, even though we claim to be a “religious” or “morally pure” country.
However, we sincerely hope that money politics is still not (yet) a serious problem in PKR as it was in Umno.
How can it be stopped? It will need the no-nonsense leadership of someone like Lee Kuan Yew to clamp down on corruption.
Parties can take internal disciplinary action. For example, in 2005, Isa Samad was suspended from Umno for three years for vote buying. But the move was half-hearted.
This was a crime, but Lim Kit Siang then lamented that anti-corruption officials were like toothless tigers in that case.
In 2010, Isa was appointed as Felda chairperson when Najib Abdul Razak was prime minister.
Felda eventually lost over RM13 billion, harming tens of thousands of Malay settlers.
‘Wakil towkay’ or ‘wakil rakyat?’
Rafizi warned that unknown Datuks and tycoons can become invisible “contestants” in party elections by funding certain proxies.
Then we have to ask, are our politicians “wakil rakyat” or “wakil towkay”? Will policies benefit ordinary people or tycoons who give big “donations”?
Was that why there were strange decisions like six flood retention ponds in Kuala Lumpur being approved for development between 2015 and 2020, despite floods ravaging the city? Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh demanded an MACC probe.
Last year, we had another suspicious flood pond development in KL. The Drainage and Irrigation Department opposed it, as did several DAP leaders.
But Dr Zaliha Mustafa, the PKR minister in charge of the Federal Territories, supported it as a pond “upgrading” project.
Zaliha has also been in the news as the PKR election committee chairperson who dismissed Rafizi's allegations regarding the party’s electronic voting system.
BN 2.0?
In 2022, I asked if Harapan was becoming BN 2.0. This was because activists had to fight the shady tactics of the Selangor state government in cutting down two forest reserves.
This included the legal gymnastics of backdating forest degazettement by 22 years to reconfirm what a former Selangor Umno menteri besar had done improperly.
We need only look at the United States to see how money in politics perverts both Republicans and Democrats.
And so, the country lacks a public healthcare system because politicians favour for-profit private health insurance.
Is that also why Madani leaders have not taken action to curb huge increases in our medical insurance premiums?
This is why curbing money politics is crucial. If we fail, we will no longer have a democracy “of the people, by the people and for the people”.
Instead, we will become a mutant called “Dollar-cracy” – a government “of the money, by the money and for the money”.
So please stop the “kepit beg duit bawah ketiak” culture before it grows into a monster. - Mkini
ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at [email protected].
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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