De facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz's claim that Umno's anti-graft law is much stricter must be a political joke.

In 1994, it was quoted in a mainstream newspaper that money politics began in Umno as far back as the 1981 party elections. If Nazri's claim has any legitimacy, Umno's 'strictness' against graft should be effective after 26 years. Instead the situation has deteriorated to an irreversible position so much so Umno is no longer respectable in the eyes of the Malaysian public.

Secondly, what if 'outsiders' are involved in 'financing' certain Umno candidates and the party's disciplinary board cannot do anything about it? This was publicly raised in 1994 by a former Kuantan Umno division youth chief.

Shahrir Abdul Samad, who was the Johor Baru divisional leader at that time, expressed doubts on the ability of Umno's top leadership to effectively stamp out money politics in the party. He said then, "We are talking about a political culture. To clean the act, you need a cultural shock. Unless the action comes from the top, enforcement may fall short of target."

Nazri should admit that after 26 years, Umno has failed no matter how 'strict' its law is against graft. Using wealth to win positions in the party, or the even more serious allegations of some leaders abusing power to fix each other up, are already entrenched in Umno as a political culture.

In 1982, our former prime minister the late Tunku Abdul Rahman wrote in The Star (quote): "For a small state like Sabah, with a small population and 200,000 registered voters, more money is spent on election expenditure than the combined election expenditure of any four states in Peninsular Malaysia."

Former Bar Council chairman Zainur Zakaria said money politics should be curbed by legislation. More importantly, he argued: "It is not advisable to let political parties deal with it as an internal problem."

In recent months, numerous cases illustrating the abuse of power by Umno rank-and-file in government positions showed the failure of the party to former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said in 1994: "If Umno allows money politics to prevail, it will eventually lead to the destruction of the whole country. Unless Umno, as the party that leads the government, acts, the whole system of government and the very fabric of society would be ruled by money politics and corruption.

"Corruption will then become the culture of the whole administration. Once it becomes a culture, it cannot be eradicated any more. People who become victims would have no place to turn to."

Ghafar Baba, disclosed that one aspiring politician was willing to spend RM600,000 just to be a branch chairman. ( New Straits Times , June 18, 1994)

Perpetrators of money politics are very creative people. The practical fact of bribery lies beyond the restricted meaning of the vocabulary word. The use of money comes in various forms besides hard cash. It can come in other forms such as calculators, pens, cameras, mobile phones, air tickets or any imaginative physical good and products.

Nazri's argument that Umno is strict on graft is not good enough. It must be seen to be seriously doing so. To date, it has failed miserably in the eyes of the public.

Malaysia's ranking for perceived corruption by Transparency International (TI), dropping from 39th placing last year to 44 out of 163 countries surveyed this year, is in part a sound message to Nazri.

Umno is now put on the line to reinvent the idealism of its original founders in nation-building. It must act without fear or favour to eliminate the menace of money politics within its ranks.