Former Umno vice-president Sanusi Junid said the quota system was introduced for party elections in order to stem money politics which has been rampant since the 1980s.

However, the former Kedah menteri besar and agriculture minister admitted that the system was no longer effective in curbing the practice.

The quota system requires a candidate eyeing a party post to secure a certain percentage of nominations from the Umno divisions in order to qualify to contest.

Those vying for presidency must obtain at least 30 percent nominations from the 191 divisions while the deputy president and vice-president hopefuls need 15 and eight percent respectively.

Speaking at a luncheon in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Sanusi - who is a staunch supporter of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad - recalled how the quota system was mooted and implemented.

'RM1,000 cut into two'

He said money politics was evident in Umno as far back as 1981, when former deputy premier Musa Hitam and another veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah contested for deputy presidency.

According to him, it became rampant in 1987 when Tengku Razaleigh took on Mahathir for the presidency.

Sanusi said during that contest, there were those who offered money to several delegates to vote for a particular candidate.

He claimed that the delegates would meet these supporters in the toilets at the Umno headquarters and the former would be given one half of a RM1,000 note that has been cut into two.

The delegates were then told that they would receive the other half once the candidate wins.

However, Sanusi said Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh were in the dark over this deal.

Ghafar's downfall

The veteran politician said it was money politics which also led to the defeat of another former deputy prime minister Ghafar Baba at the hands of Anwar Ibrahim for the Umno deputy president post in 1993.

Sanusi said in the run-up to that elections, he had followed Ghafar to an Umno division annual general meeting in Sabah.

The division had pledged to nominate Ghafar but it did not do so as 'the division leader was given a bag of money'.

Sanusi said the division leader later apologised to Ghafar and explained that he was in dire need of the money

"Ghafar told me then that he was not sad over the division leader being bought. But he said had he knew the leader could be bought, he would have given him more money," he added, drawing laughter from the 100-odd audience.

Following this incident, Ghafar suggested that a quota system be implemented in order to curb the menace of money politics.

However, Sanusi said these days the economy was good and the necessary nominations could be purchased.

The luncheon was hosted by Kelantan Umno deputy liaison chief Zaid Ibrahim. Sanusi was not slated to give a talk but decided to take the microphone when he was quizzed by the floor on his role in implementing the quota system. Sanusi has also served Umno as a secretary general and a supreme council member.

At present, he is the president of the International Islamic University.

Earlier, guest speaker Ghazalie Shafie said adhering to the Rukunegara, which he was responsible for drafting, could help eradicate corruption.

The 82-year-old former cabinet minister lamented that the principles of Rukunegara was not instilled in the nation building process over the years.

In his opening speech, Zaid said he was organising a series of talks to pay tribute to past leaders.

Also present yesterday were Parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang and DAP MP Teresa Kok.