Corruption: Hamzah tells Sabahans to 'write it down, vote them out'

Summary

• As the Sabah election nears, Perikatan Nasional’s Hamzah Zainudin urges voters to keep the alleged corruption scandal in the state in mind.

• He criticised MACC for deeming the videos inadmissible and said people would punish the government at the polls if the anti-graft body fails to act.

As the Sabah state election draws near, Perikatan Nasional deputy chairperson Hamzah Zainudin has called on voters to remember the series of leaked videos implicating several assemblypersons in corruption as they go to the polls.

He urged his audience at the PN ceramah in Gum-Gum, near Sandakan last night, to write down a list of issues plaguing Chief Minister Hajiji Noor’s administration, with the videos on top of his list.

“Don’t forget! If we forget (to write it down), when the time comes to vote, we will forget. And those who win would be the same veterans from before who have been shown in many videos.

“So, people of Sabah, don’t sleep early. You have to write it down now: Number one, video, so you don’t forget the video. In three, four months when you go to vote, remember that video,” he said in his speech aired live on social media platforms.

Other issues mentioned by Hamzah were the state’s poor water and electrical infrastructure, but only briefly, to focus on the corruption scandal instead.

In his speech, he also expressed puzzlement at MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s statement that the videos were inadmissible as evidence.

He said none of Bersatu’s leaders have videos implicating them in corruption either, and yet, its president Muhyiddin Yassin was charged for alleged corruption.

“It’s simple. We want to tell the MACC that if the video can’t be used, call up the person who gave the video, check with those who took the money, look, investigate… Hey, if you still say it can’t be used I want to tell you that when the Sabah state election comes, we will rise.

“We will prove that we know they are the ones who have taken the money – money that should have been for the benefit of all Sabahans. We will prove it in the election, can we?” he said, to cheers of “Yes” from the audience.

The Sabah election must be held by December. Hamzah announced in January that PN aims to contest at least 18 of the 73 seats in the state.

Previously, a businessperson-turned-whistleblower leaked eight videos to Malaysiakini that implicated several Sabah assemblypersons over bribes in exchange for supporting the businessperson’s application for mineral exploration licences.

Several documents and screenshots of WhatsApp conversations were also disclosed.

Leaked videos:

'Asked for two, got one, still grateful' - whistleblower exposes rep's video

Whistleblower's latest: 'Sakit hati' over RM70m deal, 'broke' finance minister

'CM knows everyone's portion', deputy CM says in new clip

However, the MACC chief commissioner said the videos - as released by Malaysiakini - are inadmissible as evidence because they had been edited, though the investigation is still underway.

Hajiji has dismissed the allegations as an attempt to tarnish his administration, suggesting that the whistleblower is collaborating with parties with vested interests.

The whistleblower has also been accused of being part of a cartel seeking to monopolise mining in the state and has resorted to fraud to achieve this objective.

‘Hajiji has no credibility’

Meanwhile, Sabah Bersatu deputy chief Affan Jumahat hit out at Hajiji’s New Year message that reminded state civil servants against corruption or abuse of power.

Affan, who is also a Bersatu supreme council member, quoted Hajiji’s remarks that “the trend now is there are CCTVs everywhere, the people themselves are becoming CCTVs.”

“I would like to tell Hajiji that he is outdated if these days he’s still detecting corruption through CCTV.

“By right, he should have said a pen with a camera that was used to expose the recent mineral licence corruption scandal, as the new trend in technology,” he said in a statement.

Affan also stressed that Hajiji has no credibility to issue reminders to civil servants, given his own alleged involvement in the graft scandal.

Warisan mocks CM's 'guts' for preaching anti-graft while mired in scandal

Kiandee: As 'edited' Sabah reps rejoice, let's be the judge

Sabah rep claims vindication after MACC finds videos 'inadmissible'

Warisan rep: Reformist govt gave me 'Harapan' to bet on wrong horse