The Anti-Corruption Agency must reveal the names of the Selangor Umno election candidates who did not pass the corruption filtering process.

The demand was made by Ezam Mohd Nor, chairperson of the non-governmental anti-corruption group Gerak at a press conference held at the group’s office in Kelana Jaya.

Ezam said that he had tended a demand letter to the ACA last Monday following Selangor Chief Minister Dr Khir Toyo’s admission that some of the state’s Umno candidates had failed the ‘clean candidate’ test.

gerak pc 290208 ezam md noor "The ACA promised that they will look into the matter and publicly announce it but so far we have not received any news from them," Ezam said

However, when contacted, Khir Toyo told Malaysiakini that he has "no authority to reveal the names of the candidates" and said that Gerak should ask ACA to do so.

Before the elections, BN candidates will have to be ‘filtered’ by the ACA and if found to be involved in any suspicion of corruption, will not be eligible to contest.

A week before nomination day, the Selangor MB had admitted that some of the state’s Umno candidates had failed the test but refused to reveal the names saying it is a confidential matter.

This admission, said Ezam, is sufficient to indicate that there are corrupt practices among some of the Selangor Umno leaders and that these people should be brought to justice.

"These candidates should not be allowed to contest and most importantly be brought to justice as they have committed criminal offences," he added.

Following this, Gerak will continue to pursue the matter said Ezam and the group will be making its second trip to ACA office in Putrajaya this Monday.

The second trip however will not pertain to mere pursuance of the lack of response from the ACA with regards to the matter but also to lodge another complaint against another Selangor Umno leader.

"We will reveal the name this Monday after our meeting with the ACA. We have evidence that this person had abused his power in a land development project," he told reporters.

Young force against corruption

Meanwhile, Gerak took the opportunity to introduce the movement’s youth wing called Gerak Mahasiswa (students).

The youth wing, set up in January, will be assisting Gerak in monitoring government leaders’ activities apart from educating and promoting clean and transparent governance.

gerak pc 290208 manifesto Gerak Mahasiswa however will be given the autonomy to come up with its own programmes and has taken this advantage by initiating a nationwide dissemination of their manifesto beginning today.

Ezam added that Gerak has also started with its "Most Clean and Transparent Leader Award" this year and has chosen Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat as the winner.

"Why? Because he has led with example. He has been very vocal about the fight against corruption and he even contributes 40 percent of his salary as chief minister to the state," said Ezam.

"We don’t choose based on which party he or she is from but only from his performance as a leader. We don’t want to be trapped in inter-party polemics," he added.

This award will also help to promote and educate people on the importance of voting for clean and transparent leaders according to Ezam.