Citizenship applicants told to 'vote for ruling party'

Aidila Razak

A permanent resident applying for citizenship has claimed that immigration officers had told her that her main duty, if granted citizenship, would be to vote for the “ruling party”.

In an email interview, the applicant, who was born and bred in Malaysia, said the officers had explicitly said this to her when she was being interviewed as part of the citizenship application process.

Did the AG accepted bribes?

A-G denies Raja Petra’s bribe claims
By Lee Wei Lian

KUALA LUMPUR: Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has denied claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin that he was being bribed by former Ho Hup Bhd deputy executive chairman Datuk Vincent Lye in exchange for help in a boardroom tussle.

Abdullah denies attempted bribe in Aussie report

The former prime minister says there is no truth in the allegation reported in The Age Newspaper.

KUALA LUMPUR: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today denied allegation of an attempted bribe when he was the prime minister and finance minister in 2003 as reported by an Australian newspaper.

Bribe probe hits former M'sia PM

The Reserve Bank of Australia's banknote firms are suspected of attempting to bribe former Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Badawi in order to get his help to win a $31 million currency contract.

Tun Abdullah Badawi is one of a several highly influential Malaysian political figures whom anti-corruption authorities believe Securency and Note Printing Australia— firms respectively half and fully owned and overseen by Australia's reserve bank— allegedly sought to bribe using part of $4.2 million in commission payments made to two Malaysian middlemen.

Malaysian sources confirmed to The Age that the Australian Federal Police have gathered information about attempts to bribe Mr Abdullah by Securency and Note Printing Australia, which are respectively half and fully owned and overseen by the RBA.

TI-M unfazed by 'polls bribe' criticism

Amidst brickbats, the Malaysian chapter of corruption watchdog Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) is maintaining its position that government handouts during election campaigns are blatant vote buying tactics.

"Of course it's a bribe. What else could it be? If you are outrightly giving a voter RM1,000 and say 'vote for me', what else could it be? There have to be clear do's and don'ts," TI-M president Paul Low said.

Speaking on the sidelines of a function in Kuala Lumpur today, Low also maintained that promises made during campaigns constitute a grey area.

'Election handouts ARE bribes'

The Malaysian chapter of the corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI-M) has refuted the claim that election handouts are not bribes.

"This is especially during campaigning. Unfortunately there are no adequate laws to deal with those things, especially when it comes to cash and sewing machines," said TI-Malaysia president Paul Low.

"There are a lot of promises made, like building a bridge. These promises are borderline.