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KUALA KUBU BARU (April 20, 2010): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is looking into the possibility that financial rewards were given as inducement to two independent candidates who pulled out of the Hulu Selangor by-election under circumstances they find questionable.
A senior MACC official told theSun officers have been despatched to Hulu Selangor for this purpose and they are keeping tabs on politicians and political parties to look out for corrupt elements.
“In any election or by-election, there is a high possibility that candidates and voters could be induced with money and other rewards to act in a particular manner,” said the official who is based in MACC headquarters in Putrajaya.
The official said the sudden withdrawal of two candidates is something the commission will look into, to ascertain if they were given monetary and other rewards to pull out of the race to benefit certain parties.
“It’s too early to say at this stage, but we will certainly look into the matter,” said the official, declining to elaborate.
Yesterday, independent candidates V.S Chandran and Johan Mohd Diah surprisingly withdrew from the contest despite paying the RM10,000 deposit and filing their nomination papers on Saturday.
Chandran, 56, a businessman, was the former Hulu Selangor MIC division deputy chairman who was suspended last year for working against the party while Johan, 31, is an Umno youth committee member in Shah Alam. Both will lose their RM10,000 deposits.
The most surprising withdrawal was from Johan. Just two hours before withdrawing, his had held a press conference to say how he would help Felda settlers in Hulu Selangor and that he would work to eradicate social ills among the youths if he was elected MP.
He has avoided the press since filing withdrawal papers at the Election Commission operations centre in Kuala Kubu Baru last night.
Chandran had had told reporters he was withdrawing after consultation with his friends. In an immediate reaction, the MIC said they would consider his suspension now that he had withdrawn.
Both had been critical of their respective political parties prior to their sudden withdrawal. — theSun
