Press Statement by DAP Secretary-General and MP for Bagan Lim Guan Eng in Kuala Lumpur on 21.2.2013
Yesterday, Barisan Nasional chairman Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak and BN component party leaders signed Transparency International Malaysia’s (TI-M) Election Integrity Pledge, a move reportedly aimed at showing the ruling coalition’s seriousness in conforming to fair play at the coming General Election.
Unfortunately, this act of signing the Integrity Pledge by the BN is nothing but an empty announcement that rings hollow without a clear commitment to ensure clean electoral rolls and to make a complete and public declaration of assets.
If Najib and BN are sincere in proving their integrity, then they must do what Pakatan Rakyat has done in making a full and complete public declaration of assets of the Penang state EXCO including the Chief Minister. Instead, BN leaders such as Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan have avoided agreeing to make a public declaration of assets on the flimsy excuse that it could endanger their safety.
If BN leaders are honest and transparent, then they should have nothing to hide. If they have nothing to hide, then why are they afraid to commit to publicly declaring their assets? If they cannot even perform this simple exercise then there is no point to sign an Integrity Pledge.
It is ironical that the Integrity Pledge is signed in the presence of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud, who has been the subject of intense scrutiny and public demands for accountability regarding his and his family’s extraordinary wealth. The irony would have been completed if it had included UMNO Wanita Chief Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who is involved in the RM250 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) “cows and condos” scandal, as well as Sabah Chief Minister Dato’ Seri Musa Aman who is at the centre of the scandal involving a RM40 million donation to UMNO Sabah.
Tan Sri Taib’s failure to declare his assets publicly has only added fuel to suspicions especially following the highly publicised divorce case between his son and his daughter-in-law which revealed the assets of his son amounting to hundreds of millions of ringgit. If his son is so wealthy, then it is important for Tan Sri Taib and his family to come clean.
Unless their personal assets are declared publicly, then signing the Integrity Pledge would be an empty gesture to hoodwink voters into believing that BN leaders are clean. The truth is that by failing to declare their assets publicly, they may seem clean, and sound clean, but they are certainly not clean.
Finally, BN must practice what they preach by guaranteeing clean electoral rolls in the coming General Election. If they cannot even provide this guarantee, then Malaysians cannot expect the next General Election to be a clean, free and fair one.
Lim Guan Eng
—–Mandarin version—
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2013年2月21日在吉隆坡发表声明：
国阵的选举廉正宣言根本只是空谈，他们没有立志要确保选民册干净，也不想公布民选高官的财产。
昨天，首相兼国阵主席拿督斯里纳吉签署国际透明组织选举廉正宣言，显示执政联盟承诺在即将来临的全国大选落实公平竞争。
不幸的是，国阵这种签署选举廉正宣言的动作根本没有意义、空谈，他们没有立志要确保选民册干净，也不想公布民选高官的财产。
如果纳吉和国阵有诚意展显廉洁，那些他们必须像槟州民联州政府的行政议员及首长那样，公布民选高官的财产。而不是像哥打柏鲁国会议员拿督阿都拉曼那样逃避问题，搬出下三烂的理由，指公布财产可能会威胁他们的安全。
如果国阵领袖是诚实又透明的，那么他们应该无所隐瞒。如果无所隐瞒，为什么他们如此害怕公布财产？如果连如此简单的事情都做不到，那么签署廉正宣言有什么意义？
最讽刺的是，就连砂拉越州首席部长丹斯里泰益也一同签署廉正宣言，他已在放大镜下被审查，公众也要求当局调查他及其家人超乎常人的财富。如果巫统妇女组主席拿督斯里莎里扎及沙巴州首席拿督斯里慕沙阿曼也一起签署，这出“讽刺剧”将会更完整。前者涉及2亿5000万令吉国家养牛中心的“公寓与牛”丑闻，后者涉及一宗沙巴巫统获4000万令吉政治献金的丑闻。
丹斯里泰益没有公布他的财产，只是欲盖弥彰。特别是在其儿子高调的离婚案件中，他的前媳妇公开指出他儿子的财产达上百亿令吉。如果他的儿子那么富有，丹斯里泰益及他的家人必须向公众交代清楚他们的财富。
除非他们公布个人财产，否则签署廉正宣言的动作只是捞取选票的伎俩，用来欺骗选民，要选民相信国阵领袖廉正。事实上，他们做不到公开财产，看起来廉正、听起来廉正，事实肯定不是如此。
最后，国阵必须讲到做到，确保来届大选的选民册是干净的。 如果他们连这一点都无法做到，那么国人根本不用指望来届大选是干净、自由及公正的选举。
林冠英