KUALA LUMPUR – Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman is urging the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to explain its decision in dismissing any element of corruption in the case of grants announced for Terengganu’s youth groups.
He said he was disappointed by the enforcement body’s decision, as it was supposed to protect the people from corruption and stop the practice of “election candies”.
“MACC is ignoring obvious facts that clearly showed Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was “buying” votes,” he said in a statement today.
Syed Saddiq was referring to MACC chairman Tan Sri Azam Baki’s statement today that said he found nothing wrong with Zahid’s statement as he was only announcing grants that have been approved by the government.
This came after Zahid announced grants of RM100,000 to the Terengganu Tengah Youth Development Council Federation (Ketengah) and RM250,000 to the Terengganu Youth Council last Friday (July 28).
During the announcement, Zahid asked for the people to vote for the “blue and red” wave.
“(Zahid’s) statement was clear; there was an element of buying votes because (he said) these funds will be allocated if (the people) vote for a certain party, and these funds will be increased if this certain party wins big in the coming state election,” he said.
The Muar MP also urged the MACC and the federal cabinet to explain why the allocation was announced during the election period, whether the grant would be retracted if BN does not win the Terengganu state election, and if the grant was ever approved by the cabinet. – July 30, 2023.