(Petaling Jaya, Friday): I welcome the vow by the Selangor Mentri Besar-designate, Datuk Abu Hassan Omar to run a clean governemnt if elected in the Permatang by-election.
The question is how one person, even though Mentri Besar, could run a clean government if he does not have a team whether in the Executive Council or in the State Assembly which is equally committed to a clean government.
Abu Hassan cannot run away from the fact that there is not a single Selangor UMNO Exco or Assembly member who is "clean and capable" enough to be made Selangor Mentri Besar to replace Tan Sri Muhammad Taib, and this is why a senior Federal Minister has to be demoted to state politics.
What Abu Hassan should tell the people in Selangor and Malaysia is how he proposes to fulfil his vow to run a clean government in Selangor when there is not a single Selangor UMNO Exco or Assembly member who is "clean and capable" enough to become Selangor Mentri Besar.
Selangor UMNO has 30 Exco and State Assembly members and it is most shocking that there is not a single one out of these 30 Selangor UMNO elected representatives who is "clean and capable" enough to be named Selangor Mentri Besar.
It is clear that the 30 Selangor UMNO Exco and Assembly members can be divided into three categories:
How are the 30 UMNO Selangor Exco and Assembly members distributed among these three categories? Can the 30 UMN0 Selangor Exco and State Assembly members declare which of these three categories each fit into?
It has been speculated that Mohammad Taib might resign as UMNO Vice President at the UMNO Supreme Council meeting tomorrow.
Muhammd Taib should resign without any further delay as UMNO Vice President and State Assemblyman for Batang Kali unless he could give a full and satisfactory accounting of the RM25 million worth of properties in Australia and expenditures reported by Brisbane Courier Mail.
Furthermore, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) should also act without further delay in the Muhammad Taib case to demonstrate that it is now able to act against those holding high political office so that the ACA would not be a casualty in the Mohammad Taib affair - in again showing that the ACA is a toothless tiger when it comes to investigations into corruption involving important personalities.
(9/5/97)