Rahim offers to contest Umno vice-president post

Friday May 23, 2008 MYT 7:57:13 PM
Rahim offers to contest Umno vice-president post
By SA’ODAH ELIAS
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Umno Youth chief and ex-chief minister of Malacca Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik has offered himself as a vice-president candidate in the party’s election in December.
Abdul Rahim, who resigned from all his government and party posts in 1994 said he was ready to make a political come back, adding that the climate was right considering the that members were now clamouring for leadership change.
The man who quit as Malacca CM amidst allegations of sexual misconduct with an under-aged girl, had this to say to anyone planning to discredit him on the campaign trail, if he succeeds in getting the required nomination to contest the post:
“Do so at your own peril. I will not hesitate to take legal action for libel against anyone who levels these allegations against me in the open.”
The 58-year-old politician said he had been cleared by the court of all the allegations and had spent additional six years taking legal action against those who had slandered him, and had won every one of them.
“This time around, I am issuing an early warning, if you slander me, you must be willing to face the consequence because I will not take it quietly irrespective of whether you are a minister, deputy minister or anyone else. Don’t try to victimise me with wild allegations again,” he said in an interview at his office here Friday.
He said he had resigned as Malacca CM and Umno Youth Chief at the height of his political career 14 years ago not because he was guilty or was pressured by the party, but did so voluntarily to safeguard Umno’s image.
Abdul Rahim believed that his good track record as Malacca CM, a post that he held for 12 years, his experience as Umno Youth chief, combined with his current position as the Federation of Malay Economic Bodies (Gabem) chairman and supreme council member, would put him in good stead to be in the party’s top line-up.
Umno, he said, needed a very strong leadership line-up to ensure its survival in the changing domestic political landscape brought about by the outcome of the 12th general election.
“Only a strong leadership can take decisive actions to rectify mistakes and address weaknesses. Umno needs to realise that it has no choice but to face up to all of its past and present mistakes heads on, if it wants to remain relevant.
"Cleaning up our internal mess is no longer a choice, but a necessity,” he added.
The Barisan Nasional’s dismal performance in the past general election, he said, it should serve as a bitter lesson to Umno take serious view of people’s perception of its practices, and that of its leaders.
He said, battling political corruption, one of the main scourges afflicting the party, whether perceived or otherwise, would be his main political agenda from now on to ensure a clean, fair and transparent party poll at the end of the year.
Claiming that he had the support of quite a substantial number of influential groups within Umno to go for the number three position, Abdul Rahim said that leadership change in Umno should be a natural process based on its democratic practices, as Umno does not belong to any exclusive group or leaders.
“We need to return Umno back to the members and they must be allowed to choose the leaders freely without any restriction. If we continue to allow Umno to be the exclusive property of any group or leader, the party will die.
“But what is happening within Umno is that there are leaders who are weak and unqualified to hold their posts, but continue to do so by abusing their power and positions. They hand out contracts, offer Datukships and give away bags of money to those that matter to secure their positions."
“The delegates must be ready to change their mindset and stop these bad practices. Hopefully we will get better quality delegates this year, as they are the ones with the power to stop all these shenanigans once and for all.
“Otherwise, Umno will end up with a bunch of mediocre and stupid leaders who are elected simply because they are corrupt and willing to abuse their positions. In this present climate such outcome may spell the end for the party,” he added.