I refer to the Malaysiakini report Rais: I've been asked to pay for my votes.

It has been reported that Dr Rais Yatim, an Umno vice-presidential candidate, was asked to pay for votes in his favour. Is this is Umno's style of getting leaders of calibre who are going to rule the nation?

As a Malaysian, I feel sorry for Rais, a man of principle like Zaid Ibrahim, the former de facto law minister who quit from the cabinet based on principles, nothing else. Woe to the nation when money talks in politics.

‘No money, no votes for you’ seems to be the only qualification for position in politics. Since Rais will not pay, he does not play. So his number of votes will be low. He is a non-player as far as Umno members are concerned.

A leader must have certain principles. Without principles, and a leader is voted in, then the nation is going to the dogs. And Malaysians are poodles to be led by the nose. Then, contracts are dished out to cronies and mind you, the tenders are closed before they are opened.

They are exclusive to those who rub shoulders and rub noses with those who are at the top. Those who do not belong to this elite, exclusive club cannot even smell the chance to even submit tender application forms.

And mind you, the OSA ( the Official Secrets Act) could be used to hide these nefarious activities meant for the exclusive club. No wonder we need this ‘ sarong’ to hide these activities.

Obviously, those who buy votes have to recoup their investments in the future through government contracts! Do you think they ‘ invest ‘ in this vote-buying enterprise for fun? No way for this is ‘business as usual’.

Anything goes until our taxpayers' money goes out through the window. Finally, our coffers will be empty for Pakatan Rakyat. So go and manage the nation Anwar with no money in the till.

The Malaysian economy is ‘fundamentally sound’ said the newly-minted finance minister while Warren Buffett - the world's richest man - said the global economy would get worse before it gets better.

The meltdown in several nations forced the G7 top guns to have emergency conferences and the US recently approved a S$700 billion rescue package to prop up their economy. The century-old Lehman Brothers has gone bust and the US government had to rescue AIG from going down under.

While the financial crisis is hitting even big companies, here we have ministers in denial mode and are busy with playing money politics and trying to push out the PM first with a transitional transfer of power from June 2010 to March, 2009 and now to December 2008.

This shifting of goal-posts and shifting of gear shows clearly that certain leaders have the lust for power and having tasted some blood, they want to push out the ‘crippled’ PM earlier so that they could occupy the seat of power with all the perks etc, paid by the taxpayers who have no say in these moves.

Pay for your votes or else... Poor Dr Rais Yatim cannot play the money game and is left out in the cold. This is the rush for positions and more contracts which will mean more money down the drain for the taxpayers.

Recession and depression have hit several nations and millions of workers are laid off. Homes have been foreclosed. Investment banks have closed shop. Car giants have to trim down their work force and even have to close down some plants and show-rooms.

Share markets around the world have plummeted. But in the land of Boleh, it is a nation flowing with milk and honey and money flows into politics and into the pockets of warlords. We are in Utopia! Our economy is ‘fundamentally sound’!

‘Don't worry, brother, pay me and I shall vote for you, Yang Berhormat! You don't want to play? Then forget my vote!’