Three days have passed and the top UMNO leadership led by Acting UMNO President Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi and Acting UMNO Deputy President Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein have yet to confirm or deny that UMNO is officially laying claim to the assets seized by the police from the Pavilion Residences i.e. 72 bags out of which 35 bags contained RM114 million cash in 26 different currencies and 35 bags of jewellery and watches as well as 284 boxes of designer handbags.
Three days ago, there was a mysterious statement professing to be by UMNO’s Strategic Communications Unit wanting the police to return money that was seized as it was UMNO party funds.
It said UMNO badly needs the fund to rebuild itself after the 14th General Election and that UMNO is seeking to recover these funds, requesting the police to release and return them to the party after investigations are completed.
It said it was unfortunate that the funds were seized by police while being transferred to Umno’s acting leadership after Datuk Seri Najib Razak had resigned.
This is the first time anybody had heard of an UMNO Strategic Communications Unit. Was it legally formed by the UMNO Supreme Council or under the UMNO constitution? If so, when was it formed and who are the members of this UMNO Strategic Communications Unit?
So far, Malaysians have only heard of the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications United headed by the former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who was mauled and defeated in the 14th General Election by the Warisan Candidate Azis Jamman, garnering less than 25% of the voter turnout.
Is the UMNO Strategic Communications Unit a phantom outfit or was it hastily formed by Najib before he was forced to resign as UMNO President on May 12, 2018?
Let the UMNO Supreme Council hold an emergency meeting to decide whether the UMNO Strategic Communications Unit is authorized to speak on behalf of UMNO in laying claim to the seized Pavilion Residences assets, or whether it was another case of UMNO indiscipline like BN chairperson Shahidan Kassim’s unauthorized sacking of Azlan Man from UMNO, after he was sworn in as Perlis Mentri Besar by Raja of Perlis?
The time has come for the UMNO Supreme Council to hold an emergency meeting to decide whether it is officially laying claim to the seized assets at Pavilion Residences, especially the RM114 million in 26 currencies, and accept the consequences of such a claim.
What are the consequences of such an official claim by UMNO?
Some of these consequences require UMNO leaders to answer many questions, like the following posed by a member of the public:
“If the funds are Umno’s, why were they in suitcases? Why were they stored or transported to condominium units not belonging to an Umno official or treasurer?
“Why were they not placed in a banking account as is normal practise for any organisation? What are the origins of the cash?
“If they are Umno’s funds, what purpose was RM114 million kept in bags? What expenses were expected to be paid in cash for the elections which could not be paid via cheques and bank transfers?
“Why was the cash not maintained in a safe under the control of the party treasurer? Why did Umno only now claim ownership? Why did they not come forward at time of the seizure to stake their claim and make full disclosure of the amount?
“Why was cash kept in different currencies? What purpose was the cash in different currencies serve?”
But the most important consequence of such an UMNO claim would mean that UMNO is incapable getting rid of the DNA of kleptocracy and money politics, and that the UMNO leadership, even without Najib, is incapable of making any contribution to rid Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy and therefore irrelevant to the hopes and aspirations of a New Malaysia which was born on May 9, 2018.
Finally, would there be any Barisan Nasional party apart from UMNO who would dare to requisition an emergency Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting to claim that the RM114 million in 26 currencies seized by the Police from the Pavilion Residences are Barisan Nasional assets and not just UMNO assets?
(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, May 27, 2018)