THERE is a wise saying that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. This is especially true of candidates who aspire to become MPs in the forthcoming 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19 yet carry with them political baggage of sorts on their back.
This is perhaps what aspirant Pakatan Harapan’s Sungai Buloh MP Datuk R. Ramanan has to accept or get accustomed to as the short campaign period heats up with rumours, accusations, slanders and the likes get brandish about.
It came as rather shocking to many political observers recently when the former MIC treasurer-general possessed the guts to undermine the so-called ‘favourite’ UMNO-Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate and caretaker health minister Khairy Jamaluddin with whom he will be engaged in a seven-cornered fight.
Call it ‘suicidal’ to invoke the fury of the incumbent Rembau MP by challenging him to explain “the ECM Libra issue” in which he was embroiled in 2006.
“I am saying this clearly. If you want to make an accusation then make one; meaning you say it clearly like, ‘KJ stole money’. Don’t recycle old issues and ask for explanations. These are rhetoric meant to affect my credibility and image,” berated Khairy.
“Make a proper accusation that I stole money, or I was a scammer, and I’ll see you in court.” Khairy added that he has addressed the matter numerous times previously with the matter was even the subject of the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) investigation.
On his part Ramanan himself was found by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to have obtained RM5.5 mil fraudulently by presenting a forged letter which led the plaintiff, renowned psychiatrist Tan Sri Dr M. Mahadevan, to believe Ramanan could obtain rent owed to him by the Defence Ministry.
Even as he eventually returned the RM5.5 mil Mahadevan – and the lawsuit was settled out of court – with no criminal charges pressed against him as per what he told Malaysiakini, the PKR deputy information chief (1) would only stir up a hornet’s nest by provoking his opponent with unfriendly salvo on legal matters when he himself was previously engaged in a legal battle.
There is little that three-term Sungai Buloh incumbent MP R. Sivarasa who has to give up contesting the seat on health grounds could do to change public perception of Ramanan’s past even if he were to rally all-out behind Ramanan based on his (Sivarasa’s) very own past service track record.
After all, Sungai Buloh is indeed a Malay heartland (70% majority), hence the high chances of votes swinging in UMNO’s favour unless the Perikatan Nasional (PN)-PAS candidate Mohd Ghazali Md Hamin – and probably the Gerakan Tanah Air-Pejuang’s Mohd Akmal Mohd Yusoff – could split the Malay votes.
Not towing party’s line?
Khairy aside, Ramanan also found himself at odds with PKR’s asset declaration exercise with his justification that he has given a “proper breakdown” of his assets to the party amid questions over the lack of details in his asset declaration.
“I’ve already declared what I have, what is there to hide? That is the declaration. There is nothing to hide, I have given a proper breakdown,” he told news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
“You have full access to my declaration online. Even Forbes only lists the net worth of individuals like Bill Gates. They don’t ask how many ships and yachts he has.”
Ramanan has come under scrutiny by social media users over his declaration which does not have details of his assets but just their total value.
In contrast, other PKR candidates such as Wong Chen (Subang) and Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai) have listed details of their assets and liabilities, including their vehicles, watches, paintings, allowances, shares and loans, among others. Moreover, they went to the etent of stating the value, quantity and brand of their assets.
Asked about the lack of details, Ramanan told FMT that he had a lot of assets. “How do I fill out all my assets? I have 13 motorbikes (and several) cars,” he said, adding that he had filled the form with his accountants.
“Not a single voter has asked me what type of car I drive. This would not be the main criteria for voters when it comes to choosing a candidate,” he added – Nov 9, 2022
