your say We pay taxes to the government and they are only the custodians. They do not own the money and are only supposed to manage it on behalf of the rakyat.

On Your choice - vote PAS or new bridge

Hamisu: In yet another case of ‘ransom/bribery’, will the people of Manek Urai condone Muhyiddin Yassin's message? The next question is, will all Malaysians be bribed by development promises? I wonder who owns the money? Umno/BN or the people. What right DPM Muhyiddin has in demanding voters to vote for BN in exchange for a bridge?

The people have got to know that we pay taxes to the government and they are only the custodians. They do not own the money and are only supposed to manage it on behalf of the rakyat. The money should never be used to hold the rakyat hostage. If there is a need for a new bridge, government agencies should actually study whether the need is a valid one.

I hope our DPM can answer this. From his ‘ransom’ note, it does appear there already is a budget for a new bridge. What is the reason to hold back the funds until the by-election? I would never want a government which refuses to alleviate the rakyat's suffering only to appear to be our "saviour" come elections’ time. This is definitely a blatant abuse of power.

What I would love to see is whether the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is going to take action. I am pretty sure they do not need to wait for someone to make a police report.

Disgusted: I am shocked that the country's DPM would utter such words. It’s clearly a threat to the folks in Manek Urai and an obvious abuse of power. Where is the money to build the bridge coming from? Is he saying the money will come from his own pocket?

I'm pretty sure it's not coming out of his own pocket but from the federal treasury, which incidentally comes from our hard-earned tax money. So is Muhyiddin saying that the government will only spend federal fund to build areas where there is clear support for BN?

This is good enough reason for us, the rakyat, to kick BN out from the federal government to make sure the nation is not held hostage by them anymore!

HJ Angus: How low will the authorities go just to win a by-election? As low as it gets.

Taxpayers everywhere have the right to a fair enjoyment of development plans and making them choose like this is a criminal offence - they are being blackmailed into voting for BN. I suggest PAS lawyers should lodge a police report.

Never mind if the Election Commission or the attorney-general sleeps on this - after the next general elections, they can still be held accountable.

LCL: What Muhiyddin said to the people of Manek Urai is blackmail. He is using public funds as an Umno campaign tool to blackmail the voters. That is also corruption if we see it as an attempted bribe for votes. This is outrageous and coming from the DPM! What is MACC or the police doing about it?

Dennis Madden: Way to go Malaysia! Now it’s democracy by threat. Well, that's OK, because it fits in with the Umno policies of government through fear and intimidation.

But it makes you wonder about Malaysia's ability to plan in the long term. It seems that this bridge is such an important part of the government's long-term plans that it can be abandoned on the whim of a by-election loss.

Maniam: BN partners, how blatant must corruption get before you recognise it?

I am shocked that the DPM can blatantly offer to build a bridge in Manek Urai conditional on BN winning the by-election. Unless Umno is paying for it, the DPM has no business offering taxpayers money as inducement in any election.

It is plain corruption just like the euphemistically termed ‘money politics’ in Umno. We expect MACC to ‘wait for report” or just dither. However, can the other BN partners please state your stand and be judged.