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Vote-buying will destroy Malaysia's ruling party - minister
Agence France Presse - October 20, 2008
Kuala Lumpur – A veteran leader of Malaysia's ruling party said Monday he had been asked to pay for votes in an upcoming contest for top posts, and warned that money politics would destroy the organization.
Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said "the majority" of United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, members were more interested in making money out of the election than in voting for the right person.
"The majority of UMNO people want to look for money and not for good leaders," said Rais, a member of UMNO's decision-making committee who is vying for the vice-presidency. UMNO is the dominant party in Malaysia's ruling coalition.
"We have been approached under the cloak of assistance and cloak of contribution. (But) I'm not a player so you don't see my marks going up very high. If you want to be a good player, you have to say yes (to vote-buying)," he said.
Rais, who has been with UMNO for over 33 years, said the problem of money politics within the ruling party should be eradicated or it "will surely kill the party."
UNMO, which has ruled Malaysia since independence, is holding meetings to nominate candidates for party posts after suffering major losses in polls this year. It will hold party elections next March. "If UMNO cannot curb this practice, UMNO's future is done for because this has been (talked about) for the past two decades and it has not been curbed," he said.
In July, UMNO asked the country's anti-corruption agency to help it battle vote-buying ahead of the heated battle for top leadership positions in the party. Rais has only garnered five nominations of the 19 needed to contest in the party polls.
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