How can you know polls handout intentions, says C4

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PETALING JAYA: The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) has questioned how anyone could know the intentions behind cash handouts by political parties during election campaigns.

C4’s acting CEO Pushpan Murugiah said the group could not accept an explanation by Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin that the handouts were acceptable if done with good intentions.

“We cannot accept that argument from Hamzah,” he told FMT. “How are we to know their real intention?”

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Show your ‘solid proof’ of no election bribes, PN told

PETALING JAYA: Umno information chief Isham Jalil has challenged Perikatan Nasional to prove its claim of “solid evidence” that it did not bribe the voters at the general election in November.

Isham said PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin must present the “solid evidence” he claimed to have. Only then would the people be able to ascertain the truth of the matter.

Hamzah was reported as saying earlier today that PN has evidence to brush off claims made by Terengganu Umno that the coalition bribed the voters in the Marang, Kuala Terengganu and Kemaman parliamentary constituencies using the state government’s cash handouts.

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Why no alms during floods, when schools reopened, PAS asked

KUALA LUMPUR – Pakatan Harapan (PH) has questioned PAS’ rationale of “alms distribution” during the recent election campaign, as opposed to other periods deemed more critical to the public. 

Terengganu PH chairman Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad argued that any such “sedekah” would have served more purpose had it been distributed when the east coast state was ravaged by monsoon floods mid-December.

Similarly, he said cash handouts would also have been more helpful if given at the start of the third term of the school session earlier this month, or ahead of the new academic calendar in March.

“It must be remembered that the previous Perikatan Nasional (PN) government claimed to be a clean and perfect government, as though they are infallible," he said in a statement today.

“However, why was bribery so widespread in Terengganu during the 15th general election like never seen before?

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Islam forbids ‘Robin Hood’ acts: ex-PAS MP

KUALA LUMPUR – Former PAS leader Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, who is now with Umno, has issued a general reminder that stealing with the ultimate intention of helping the poor by way of sedekah (alms) is prohibited by Islam. 

He pointed out that the religion rules that the end does not justify the means if a particular action is not done in accordance with Islamic teaching.

“Is it halal to rob with the intention of giving alms to the poor like Robin Hood? In Islam, the legitimacy of an act depends on two conditions, namely the right intention and manifested action that conform to shariah.

“An illegal act does not become legal and halal merely because of good intentions,” he said in a brief post on his Facebook yesterday.

“However, an intention can change in status from neutral (harus) to recommended (sunat), reprehensible (makruh), or forbidden (haram).”

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“PAS cannot differentiate between charity and corruption?”

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang purports to be not just an authority on Islam but an expert on distinguishing the difference between charity and corruption.

For PAS, what constitutes corruption is deemed to be charity.

In short, giving funds to influence the outcome of elections is charity to PAS. If this is done by others, then it is corruption.

Distribution of funds to party cadres and possibly supporters during the recent elections were defended by Hadi as welfare gifts to the poor and needy.

There is a vast difference between gifts to the poor and the needy and funds to elicit votes. Charity is an inescapable part of most all political parties, whether religious or not.

PAS cannot claim that it merely engaged in handing out charity, either in the form of cash or gifts. What PAS did before the recent general elections was unjustified. Its leaders handed out funds to their cadres and supporters in the name of charity to influence the outcome of the elections.

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Larut MP: PN will prove the accusations of vote-buying are false

PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said today that the party is working on its defence to prove that the accusations that it bribed voters in the 15th General Election (GE15) are untrue.

He claimed the party has strong evidence to deny the allegations that the coalition bribed voters, though there are videos in circulation showing a prominent PAS member in Terengganu giving cash handouts to voters, making them swear they will vote for the party.

For that matter, Hamzah said the party’s defence team was ready to prove that the allegations made by Terengganu UMNO in the election petition were untrue.

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