Sabah Umno leader praises 'brave' Rafizi, slams graft-linked figures

Summary

• A Sabah Umno leader has called Rafizi Ramli “a real man” after the latter stepped down as economy minister following his defeat at the PKR election.

• Datu Rosman Datu Ahir Zaman compares this with GRS leaders implicated in a corruption scandal, who to date have denied any wrongdoing and remained in their positions.

Sabah Umno strategic communications director Datu Rosman Datu Ahir Zaman has drawn a stark comparison between Rafizi Ramli’s resignation as minister and the conduct of leaders in his own state implicated in a corruption scandal.

“Ini baru betul anak jantan (This is a real man),” he wrote in a Facebook post, accompanied by an image of Rafizi.

However, Datu Rosman (above) lamented that the situation in Sabah stands in sharp contrast, where ruling assemblypersons linked to the mineral prospecting licence scandal are refusing to step aside.

“The whole of Malaysia already knows that the assemblypersons are involved in allegations of corruption and abuse of power. They will be summoned again soon by MACC.

“Up until today, they have not dared to resign,” he added.

‘Salaries not enough to eat’

Datu Rosman also recalled Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor’s previous remarks about elected representatives not having enough to eat if they relied on their salaries alone.

“This is the true reality of the ‘anak jantan’ (real men) made by GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah),” he added.

Hajiji had made the remark in defending his assemblypersons by suggesting that the conversations in the leaked videos could be referring to political donations.

“But it would be a lie to say that political parties and politicians do not accept political funding from donors.

“I conveyed this to the prime minister last week. Everyone understands that political funding is not wrong in this country or other countries.

“How can a political party function without financial contributions from those who can afford it? If we were to rely solely on the salaries of elected representatives, there wouldn’t even be enough to eat,” he had said.

MACC to summon all linked individuals

On May 22, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki confirmed that the forensic report on the videos had been received.

However, the chief graft buster said that he cannot reveal whether the videos are authentic just yet, saying it would be prejudicial at this juncture.

Instead, Azam said, he has ordered the investigating officers to summon all the individuals related to the videos for another round of questioning.

The videos were recorded by a businessperson, who claimed that he had bribed the assemblypersons to secure mining exploration licences.

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