Raja Petra Kamarudin

The issue is simple, really. Every candidate who contests the state and parliamentary elections is supposed to file a copy of his or her statement of accounts or statement of expenditure with the Elections Commission. This to ensure that no one violates the Election Offences Act by spending more than RM100,000 for a state seat and RM200,000 for a parliament seat.

Now, if you fail to file your statement of accounts/expenditure or your statement shows you have spent more than the allowed figure or your statement is in error, such as many expenses are missing from your statement, then the Elections Commission can disqualify you.

In short, you lose your seat.

Zulkifli Noordin, the PKR candidate who won the Kulim parliament seat in the 2008 general election, did not submit his statement of expenditure for the 2004 general election. And the Umno candidate who lost, Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir, had proof of this. So Aziz filed an election petition to ask the court to disqualify Zul. (Remember Aziz, the man who wanted to burn down the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall about ten years ago?)

Zul panicked. So he quickly doctored a set of accounts with forged documents and bills to buttress his case in court. Unfortunately, Zul got caught. Now it is no longer a simple case of failing to file your statement of accounts, which is a mere disqualification. It is now a case of fraud, which is a criminal offence that attracts a jail sentence.

The Prime Minister saw a golden opportunity in Zul’s predicament. Zul has been caught with his pants down. So the PM summoned Zul for a meeting and told the latter that Umno will withdraw the election petition and help save his arse. But he must first agree to a deal. And the deal is: Zul need not go to jail, but he would have to ensure the return of Kedah to Barisan Nasional.

In short, Zul will act as Umno’s Trojan Horse in Pakatan Rakyat.

Zul agreed to the deal and the PM instructed Aziz to withdraw the election petition. Aziz was mad as hell (he knew Zul was dead meat) but he had no choice in the matter. He reluctantly withdrew the election petition and Zul was saved. But now Zul works for Umno, no longer for Pakatan Rakyat.

Now can you understand why Zul is doing the things he is doing? No doubt it appears odd that Zul is doing all sorts of things that is hurting the opposition. But that was the deal. And once Kedah falls then Zul would have paid his dues and he can then officially join Umno.

When you lie to cover a lie you eventually get caught. And Zul got caught. If he had not tried to cover his mistake by forging his statement of accounts then at worse he just loses his seat. But because he forged his statement of accounts it is now more than a simple disqualification. It is fraud. And the crime of fraud is more serious. You can go to jail.

Umno just loves criminals. Criminals can be used. And since Zul made the mistake of doing something criminal, Umno is able to use him. And use him Umno did, and still is.