Umno supports the proposal for political parties to submit their lists of candidates for the 13th general election (GE13) to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for vetting, its

vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal said today.

He regarded the proposal appropriate to prevent any problems from cropping up later if the candidates were found to have problems and involved with corruption after they were elected.

“I’m all for it because we do not want to find out later that the candidate has problems and a by-election has to be called. This will not only involve cost, but also inconvenience the people,” he told reporters after a working visit to the Tok Bali fishermen resettlement project in Pasir Puteh.

He was commenting a newspaper report on a suggestion by the chairperson of the MACC Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel, Johan Jaafar, for the government to make it compulsory for political parties to submit their lists of candidates to the commission for vetting of the individuals concerned.

In another development, Mohd Shafie, who is Rural and Regional Development Minister, said implementation of the fishermen resettlement project in Tok Bali was proof that Kelantan was not neglected by the federal government.

The project covers more than 38 hectares and involves construction of 300 units of houses, surau, kindergarten and a multi-purpose hall, costing RM30.88 million.

- Bernama