Umno supreme council member Norza Zakaria has been barred from contesting in the party polls this Thursday.The decision was made by the party's management committee today as a result of Norza facing a criminal case in the court for alleged money politics.
Norza, who is the Federal Territories Umno Youth chief, is vying for the supreme council post.
The party annual meeting starts tomorrow and will end on Saturday
Norza was charged in Temerloh magistrate's court in Pahang on March 13 for alleged involvement in money politics.
He claimed trial to two charges of offering bribes to party delegates to vote for him for the supreme council post in the coming party polls later this month.
Norza was released on a RM10,000 bail in one surety. The case will be mentioned on April 22.
Norza, 43, was alleged to have committed the offences on Jan 20, 2009 at 6.30pm at No 38, Pinggiran Tasik, Taman Bandar Temerloh, in Temerloh.
He was charged with corruptly giving Khadri Musa RM1,500 through Halimi Kamaruzzaman to be distributed to party delegates as inducement to vote for him
Norza was also charged with corruptly giving RM1,900 to Mohammad Anuar Yunus, also through Halimi Kamaruzzaman, for the same purpose.
The charges are under Section 16 (b)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (Act 694) and punishable under Section 24 of the same Act.
Norza was investigated by the MACC since January.
Putting party interest above self
In an immediate reaction to the party's decision today, Norza said that he was disappointed but would accept the decision.
"This decision does not change my intentions to continue to contribute for the party," he said in a statement.
He said the decision of the party management committee was a challenge for him in continuing to support Umno and putting the party's interest above his.
He also expressed support for incoming president Najib Abdul Razak.
The decision by the party to bar him from contesting, coming right after he was charged in court for alleged corrupt practice, is a tremendous change in fortune for Norza.
He was once considered to be a member of outgoing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's inner circle. He is also a close associate of Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
He was a former political secretary to Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yaacop.
The party's decision to stop Norza from contesting followed its earlier decision to similarly stop deputy president aspirant Mohd Ali Rustam from contesting, also for allegedly using agents to induce delegates to vote for him.
However Mohd Ali, presently a vice-president, was never charged by the MACC.
tunku : very good move by umno supreme council.what about others? there are still many of them out there.
Malaysian Ringgit Converter
5 comments:
What about Azalina? Is she going to get away scotfree and still contest for the MT post? Why no action taken against her when she is commiting money politic similar to Norza. Including KJ they are all equally guilty and should be barred from contesting the MT post. What a double standard ruling and so ambigious too.
Tunku,
If I were the President of UMNO,
1. Those found guilty of bribery, will be stripped off their memberships.
2. I believe, once a thief always a thief, and if you are a perasuah always will be.
3. Those under investigations, will be suspended from membership, from contesting and even from govt. post.
4. In case of bribery charges, it should be , you are guilty until proven otherwise.
5. Sentences should be both ways, to those who practised and those who received.
6. I would appoint Dr Mahathir to be the new Chairman of LDU.
Do you seriously and honestly think the newly elected UMNO President could execute all of the above? He promised he wanted to change UMNO.
Jangan cakap tak serupa bikin.
sujini,
i think your suggestion is good but then again, to suspend some a leader for a duration from holding any post is ok but to expel from party sometimes is not so good idea as the leader normally haves many supporters behind them.
to appoint Tun Mahathir as LDU chairman is not appropriate as he is the former president of the party and let him rest,he can have a role of an adviser.
Tunku,
Yeah, maybe no.6 is not appropriate. But can you think of one credible person in UMNO for this post?
I still believe, "tiada maaf bagi mu" to those who practised grafts (either using money or double dealings).
That's why you still have TS Mat Taib and TS Rahim Thambycik still contesting. If you leave worm-infested apple in the basket, the worms tend to eat other good apples.
If supporters are still in denial, then I think UMNO can do without them. UMNO can still recruit new members.
Anyway thanks .
sujini,
for long term i have to agree with you.u r right.umno should get rid of all those bad apples in the party so that the party is left with only good apples.
thank you sujini
Post a Comment