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Najib: Ali Rustam keeps his CM post
by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday
Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam will con-
tinue to serve as Malacca chief minister
despite being barred from contesting in
the Umno party polls for breaching party
ethics in the party election campaign.
Najib said he believes Mohd Ali will
accept the decision with “an open heart”
as the investigation into complaints was
done in the best interest of Umno and is
part of a move to reform the party to win
the support of the people.
Najib was replying to questions on
the Umno disciplinary board’s decisions
at a press conference at the Malaysian
Institute of Integrity where he was pre-
sented with a report on the progress of
the National Integrity Plan since it was
implemented five years ago.
Of the 15 people found guilty of ethi-
cal breaches, the biggest casualty was
Mohd Ali who is gunning for the right to
be Najib’s deputy.
Mohd Ali’s fate brings back memories
of the six-year suspension slapped on
former Umno vice-president Tan Sri
Mohamed Isa Abdul Samad for money
politics from June 24, 2005.
The former Negri Sembilan mentri
besar and federal territories minister
won the vice-president’s post in the 2004
party elections but was later found guilty
of the charge.
Isa’s suspension was reduced from six
to three years upon his appeal on July 6,
Results of Umno disciplinary board’s probe
Name: Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam
Post: Umno vice-president, Bukit Katil
chief
Offence: 10.1
Punishment: Barred from contesting for
deputy president’s post only
Name: Datuk Japlin Akim
Post: Kota Belud Youth chief
Offence: 5.1.1, 5.1.2 and 5.5.2
Punishment: Three-year suspension from
March 2009
Name: Salmah Pin
Post: Bandar Tun Razak Wanita chief.
Offence: 5.5.1 and 8.1.1
Punishment: Three-year suspension start-
ing March 2009
Name: Saadun Basirun
Post: Bukit Katil committee member
2005. He resigned as minister on Oct 17,
2005 following his suspension. Isa is now
contesting a vice-president’s post.
Asked if there would be retaliation
from Mohd Ali’s disgruntled supporters
which may affect the polls, Najib said
there are risks attached to politics and
it was necessary to reform to uphold the
integrity of the party. “You cannot have
the cake and eat it. The biggest risk is
Umno being rejected by the people and
we cannot risk that. Everyone has to
sacrifice for the sake of the party.”
Earlier, in his speech, Najib said there
was still a lot to be done to change the
people’s negative perception of the
government.
Emphasising on the need for credible
leadership in all sectors, he said integrity,
good morals, capability and acceptability
should be the top criteria in picking the
head of an organisation.
“If there is no integrity, nothing else
matters. Pick the right man for the job,
only then can you sleep well,” he said.
Najib said the constant supervision of
leaders was the only way to keep a check
and balance on discrepancies.
He cited and criticised the use of
taxpayer money to bail out insurance
giant AIG which later announced mas-
sive bonuses for its employees. “This is
immoral as they are using public funds.
Even bankers can be dishonest and so
that is why there must be supervision.”
He said among the steps for reform
the government will take is to ensure
government procurements are done
through open tenders.
Offence: 5.1.2, 5.5.1, 5.5.2 and 5.6.1
Punishment: Three-year suspension start-
ing March 2009
Name: Rosli Hasan
Post: Bukit Katil committee member
Offence: 5.1.2 and 5.5.2
Punishment: Three-year suspension start-
ing March 2009
Name: Zalina Ismail
Post: Bukit Katil Puteri vice-head
Offence: 5.1.2 and 5.5.2
Punishment: Three-year suspension start-
ing March 2009
Name: Mohamad Najuib Mohamad Sha-
haimi
Post: Maran Youth chief
Offence: 5.1.1, 5.5.2 and 5.6.1
Punishment: Three-year suspension start-
PM: Umno firm in eliminating money politics
JAKARTA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi said the decision taken by the
Umno disciplinary board in suspend-
ing several of Umno members for
involvement in money politics yesterday
showed that the party is firm in eliminat-
ing the scourge.
“The Umno disciplinary board has
made its decision. Umno is certainly
firm in tackling money politics,” he told
reporters here when asked to comment
on the decision of the board.
ing March 2009
Name: Datuk Mokhtar Samad
Post: Bandar Tun Razak chief
Offence: 5.1.2, 5.3 and 5.5.2
Punishment: One-year suspension starting
March 2009
Name: Datuk Abdul Manan Ismail
Post: Paya Besar Umno member
Offence: 5.5, 5.6 and 7.1
Punishment: One-year suspension starting
March 2009
Name: Amran Mat
Post: Kuala Krai deputy chief
Offence: 5.1.2
Punishment: One-year suspension starting
March 2009
Name: Mohd Zuki Mohd Zain
Mohd Ali’s supporters raise their
arms in a gesture of support for
their fallen candidate
At the RMAF base in Subang at 9pm
yesterday, about 150 supporters of Datuk
Seri Mohd Ali Rustam met with Abdullah,
who had just returned from the Jakarta
visit, to urged him to review the board’s
decision which also barred the Malacca
chief minister from contesting the Umno
deputy presidency.
Batu Gajah Umno division head Datuk
Mohd Yusoff Kassim said Abdullah had
promised to consider the matter and
meet with Mohd Ali today. – Bernama
Post: Gua Musang chief
Offence: 5.1.2
Punishment: One-year suspension starting
March 2009
Name: Datuk Md Sohaimi Mohamed Shah
Post: Paya Besar branch deputy chief
Offence: 5.5, 5.6 and 7.1
Punishment: Warning
Name: Mohd Zaili Besar
Post: Paya Besar committee member
Offence: 5.5, 5.6 and 7.1
Punishment: Warning
Name: Mohd Shohaimi Jusoh
Post: Paya Besar vice-head
Offence: 5.5, 5.6 and 7.1
Punishment: Warning
Name: Khairy Jamaluddin
theSun | WEDNESDAY MARCH 18 2009
Evidence against
Khairy
‘not so strong’
» From Front Page
Tengku Rithauddeen said: “In
Khairy’s case, the circumstances are
different. Although his agent may have
got a heavier sentence, there was no
indication or proof of direct consent.
The link or nexus between the agent
and Khairy was also weak.”
However, it was not possible to
exculpate him completely from the of-
fence as there was an iota of evidence
that he was involved but it was not so
strong, he added.
Asked if Mohd Ali may have been
fixed up, Tengku Rithauddeen said:
“No, you can’t say that; don’t ask me
that, who knows, God only knows, I
don’t think you know.”
On whether there was interfer-
ence in their work, he said: “We loathe
anyone attempting to disturb and
interfere. We would like to say we are
independent, we are impartial; if not,
what’s the use?”
He said those found guilty could
appeal against the decision and
sentence of the board but did not
stipulate a timeframe for this.
Questioned if supreme council
contender Datuk Azalina Othman was
also under scrutiny, he said: “We only
act on ethical offences, not criminal
offences. That is the duty of the police
to investigate.”
In IPOH, Mohd Ali said he would
make a clarification on the prohibi-
tion in Malacca today. Approached
by reporters, he said he had not
received any official decision from
the disciplinary board.
Post: Umno Youth vice-chief and Rembau
youth chief
Offence: 10.1
Punishment: Warning
OFFENCES UNDER THE UMNO MEMBERS’ DISCIPLI-
NARY CODE OF CONDUCT:
5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3 - Offences pertaining
Corruption and money politics
5.3 - Offences relating to the misuse of the
media including the internet
5.5 - Offence pertaining the use of agents,
lobbyists and campaign managers
5.6 - Offence pertaing the organization of
functions and gatherings
7.1 - Offences pertaining newspaper and
public statements
8.1 - Offence pertaining conduct during
party administrative duties
10.1 - Presumption of guilt owing to the
actions of a third party