UMNO Scrapping The Bottom of The Barrel in Permatang Pasir
Bar Council President Ragunath Kesavan had revealed that the council’s disciplinary action against UMNO’s candidate for Permatang Pasir Rohaizat Othman did not involve his partners but was a charge brought against Rohaizat himself. Rohaizat was disbarred on 7 March 2008 after the council found him guilty of a misconduct where he did not return the money belonging to the Koperasi Pekebun Getah amounting to RM160,000.00.
The action was taken under Section 103D of the Legal Profession Act 1976 and the Bar Council also pointed out that charges under this section are tantamount to criminal misconducts.
While UMNO is free to field any candidate of their choice in the Permatang Pasir by-election, the fact that they are fielding Rohaizat who was disbarred due to a misconduct showed that UMNO is already scrapping the bottom of their barrel. After the revelation by the Bar Council, Ahmad Zahid, the UMNO top gun who was sent with a mandate to win over Penang from Pakatan Rakyat back to UMNO, even said that,“to us [UMNO], he [Rohaizat] is our best candidate for the by-election“. UMNO not only did not try to mend its marred moral reputation but also took lightly the people’s aspiration for a total reform in our nation’s political scene.
What is even more appalling was how certain UMNO leaders who actually did not tell the truth concerning the Bar Council’s action against Rohaizat when they claimed that the charges was actually against his former partner’s. The Bar Council had since clarified that UMNO’s claim was not true.
A vital question to the Election Commission is, how did Rohaizat qualify to be a candidate even though he was found guilty of misconduct in handling the payment of RM160,000.00 to the Koperasi Pekebun Getah? The Election Commission chairperson should come forth to clarify to the electorate to salvage both UMNO and the Commission’s integrity.
Rohaizat Othman (Photo Source: Internet)
I am a true-blood Penang "kia" (son of Penang) who love everything about my beautiful home-state, well, almost everything. :)
Formerly I served as the Special Assistant to the Penang State Executive Councillor (State-level ministerial post) in charge of Youth and Sports. I am now pursuing an MA in Philosophy at a local university.
I am also the Executive Secretary of the Network of Social Democracy in Asia (www.socdem.asia) and sit on the committee of the State-sponsored Good Governance and Gender Equality Society (3Gs). Since 2007, I also served in various capacities in the office of the Hon' Madam Chong Eng, a leading Malaysian woman Parliamentarian.
Politically, I had the privilege to help manage four successful political campaigns since 2007 and was involved in planning, campaigning and monitoring of eight state and federal level elections in Malaysia.
I am engaged with the love of my life, Jorin. Both of us worship at the Bukit Mertajam Gospel Centre.
