MONEY POLITICS IN BY-ELECTION? KOR MING GETS BITTER DOSE OF OWN MEDICINE, WHILE ANWAR CALLED 'LEADER WITHOUT REASON'
MONEY POLITICS IN BY-ELECTION? KOR MING GETS BITTER DOSE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE, WHILE ANWAR CALLED 'LEADER WITHOUT REASON'
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - It looks like Housing Minister Nga Kor Ming has finally got a dose of his own medicine - and from none other than bitter rival Dominic Lau, the president of the Gerakan party aligned with the main PN opposition bloc led by ex-premier Muhyiddin Yassin.
Nga, known for his fast-talking, shoot from the hip style, was an extremely vocal politician when his DAP party was in the opposition - rarely missing an opportunity to grill Muhyiddin and other ex-premiers including Ismail Sabri, Mahathir Mohamad, Najib Razak over issues that he saw as marginalizing public interest or had the shadow of corruption ringed around them.
Today, as part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's government, Nga has found himself on the defensive after announcing RM18 million in funding for various projects in Penang ahead of the Sungai Bakap by-election due to be held there next month.
“The Madani government seems immune as it has violated one election rule after another since the Kuala Terengganu by-election, the Kemaman and Kuala Kubu Baharu polls, and now in Sungai Bakap," said Dominic Lau in a statement to the media.
“All this just to stay in power and position. With such a mentality, the exploitation of money politics based on party interests has become a norm for the Madani administration. This causes a great inequality between the government and the opposition in the election arena."
Lau was referring to Anwar's slogan for his government - Malaysia Madani or Civilized Malaysia, a framework for focusing on good governance, sustainable development and racial harmony in the country.
According to Lau and the Opposition, Nga's sudden 'windfall' for Sungai Bakap constituents was as good as trying to buy votes or exerting unfair and undue influence on voters while pretending to be carrying out what any good government should do in any case and not only when elections roll around.
Anwar himself had provided RM290,000 in donations to nine mosques and 20 surau in the constituency, using the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration next Monday as the rationale. His PKR party is due to name the government's candidate for the by-election later today (June 12) - while Muhyiddin is expected to announce the PN's choice the next day.
As for Nga, whose DAP party and PKR are long-time coalition mates in the Pakatan Harapan ruling pact, the RM18 million allocated by his ministry was for the construction of the Permatang Tinggi fire and rescue station (RM13.7 million), the upgrade of Bukit Panchor market (RM1 million) and the funding of six non-Muslim houses of worship (RM1.02 million).
The funds are also to cover repairs at the Tasek Mutiara market and the Taman Bukit Panchor low-cost flats, landscaping at Bukit Panchor and upgrading works on the Kampung Sungai Udang basketball court, according to media reports.
A LEADER WITHOUT REASON
Nonetheless, Lau does not seem 'deceived' by the perceived electoral shenanigans - that ironically his own Gerakan party had also condoned during the days when it was part of an Umno-led government that had ruled Malaysia for six decades.
Perhaps having switched shoes with Nga, Lau is now urging Sungai Bakap voters to teach Anwar and his regime a lesson on polling day.
“It is worth remembering that the fate of Malaysians and the country’s development is being held by a leader without reason and who is not in touch with the people," said Lau.
“Gerakan hopes that the people will send a clear signal to the prime minister and his dysfunctional cabinet."
“The voters of Sungai Bakap need to ask themselves - is the Madani government capable of maintaining the best level of service that has been provided by the former Sungai Bakap assemblyperson from Perikatan Nasional (PN)?”
SAME OLD MONEY POLITICS?
Political brinksmanship and unethical money politics aside, chances are likely favor the Opposition - with Anwar's PKR party seen as too weak to be able to wrest the seat.
There is even talk that Anwar might field his daughter Nurul Izzah as the Pakatan candidate.
In the last state election, Nor Zamri who hails from PN component party Pas, had defeated Pakatan's Nurhidayah Che Ros with a majority of 1,563 votes.
The Election Commission has set July 6 as polling day, with nominations to be held on June 22 and early voting on July 2.
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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