Politicians facing criminal charges and pending court cases should sit out GE15

Political integrity depends on it

The Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4) Chairman Edmund Terence Gomez said at a recent launch of a “Business in Politics: Seeking Control of Malaysia’s Political System” report, that politicians facing ongoing corruption charges should not contest the coming general election.

There are a small number of politicians, who are now facing ongoing and pending criminal trials for graft and corruption. In Westminster systems, there are strong conventions that politicians in such situations stand down and not run for public office until all investigations and charges against them are cleared.

Political party administrations should not nominate politicians with allegations of corruption under investigation or pending court proceedings. This undermines the integrity of the nation’s political institutions and processes.

Currently, it is not illegal in Malaysia to stand for parliament with pending charges, as long as there are no convictions. Therefore, its unlikely the Election Commission (EC) can legally disqualify a candidate over this issue.

Politicians from all sides of politics fall into this situation, shamming party integrity.

There are three high profile politicians who fall into the category of having pending trials for corruption;

1.      Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, (UMNO) who has an ongoing graft case over funds linked to Yayasan Akalbudi. Zahid intends to nominate to defend his seat of Bagan Datuk tomorrow.

2.      Lim Guan Eng, (DAP), who has an ongoing case involving alleged corruption with the RM 6.3 billion Penang Undersea Project. Lim intends to defend his seat of Bagan in the coming general election.

3.      Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, (MUDA), who has an ongoing case involving the misappropriation of funds from his former party, Bersatu. Syed Saddiq intends to defend his seat of Muar in the coming general election.

Rightfully, these politicians should stand down from GE15, clear their names, and then seek re-election to the parliament.  

This convention is common throughout the Commonwealth. Last year, the former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian resigned both her commission and seat in Parliament, after the NSW corruption watchdog ICAC instituted an investigation into potential corruption.

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