Umno said it would address more than 70 separate allegations of money politics when the party disciplinary committee meets on July 21, its secretary-general Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said today.

He said the 70 plus complaints, which pertain primarily to branch-level elections, would be investigated by the disciplinary committee with sentences meted out as soon as possible if the accused parties were found guilty.

"I believe that once the divisional meeting are over, the disciplinary committee will be up to their ears with work handling these cases," he told reporters at the Parliament House lobby.

Meanwhile, party vice president Najib Abdul Razak told reporters at the same venue that the gap between the end of divisional elections and the start of the general assembly had been identified as a potentially prime period for political corruption activities.

"Within this two months, we are concerned that there may be some quarters who would use money politics to influence Umno delegates ... we have already identified who these individuals are at the divisional level," Najib said.

However, he did not reveal details of these 'identified individuals', except to say that it would be up to the disciplinary committee to investigate and determine the type of action to be pursued against them.

A deterrent

Umno's management committee meeting yesterday decided that a separate 'money politics monitoring body' would be set up within the party's disciplinary committee. According to Radzi, the body would act as the party's 'eyes and ears on the ground' once the divisional meetings conclude on June 22.

The monitoring body's presence at ground-level was also expected to 'act as a deterrent to prevent individuals from using money to influence the selection process, especially within the two-month period in the run-up to the general assembly meeting' Najib had said.

Like a seasonal disease, money politics has yet again reared its ugly head this year as Umno branches and divisions meet to elect the respective leaders.

On Tuesday, former Malacca chief minister Rahim Tamby Chik attributed his third failure two win the Umno Kota Melaka divisional head' post to rampant money politics within the party, alleging that candidates were asked to pay up to RM1,000 for a vote.

The party elections are slated during its annual general assembly in September.