Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today admitted that he has no concrete evidence on money politics in Umno despite previously claiming corruption flourished under his successor Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi."I have to study first, as a lot of information is hearsay, they are not willing to give their names," said the former Umno President.
"We want brave people. They complain but are afraid to come forward, so I have to look carefully into it," said Dr Mahathir when asked when he would reveal the names of Umno leaders involved in money politics. Apart from threatening to reveal names, Dr Mahathir had also in the past suggested the use of the Internal Security Act against party members involved in vote buying.
He had also claimed that vote-buying was so rampant in Umno that the party was doomed to lose in the next elections.
When asked whether having an independent body to monitor the Umno election would help, he said that the formation of another body would not solve the problem.
"Even if more bodies are formed, but the witnesses refuse to give information to corroborate evidence, they will be useless. To get evidence that is beyond reasonable doubt is very difficult," said Mahathir.
On the action by certain Umno members who gave information on vote buying practice to opposition leaders, Mahathir said they were probably angry with the leadership.
Recently PKR lawmaker Saifuddin Nasution revealed in Parliament that he has evidence to prove candidates for the Umno deputy presidential race are involved in money politics.
Masalah politik wang ni bukan hanya timbul pada zaman Pak Lah je, sebenarnya pada zaman Mahathir pun dah wujud bezanya, Mahathir tidak begitu berusaha untuk mendedahkan dan memerangi masalah ini berbanding Pak Lah yang cuba membongkarkan segala yang ada.
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