GEORGE TOWN, June 14 ― Penang Umno urged the DAP today to reveal its source of funding after the home minister claimed that gambling kingpins may be funding political parties.
Penang Umno Liaison chairman Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman said the people deserved to know who was funding DAP or how the party obtained its funding.
“I am not accusing them of anything but I believe the people needs to know this since DAP took over Penang and has been leading the state for so many years,” he said in a press conference today after launching the Penang Bumiputera Development Strategic Plan 2017 here.
He claimed DAP had never revealed its source of funding and it had been able to implement various programmes and events in Penang.
“We all know DAP has been running the state for almost 10 years now and in this period, the DAP-led state government organised all sorts of activities including fancy dinner events,”
“They organise events almost every night and we know such events required a lot of funding so the people need to know where the money comes from and how they managed to fund these political activities,” he said.
Zainal Abidin was commenting on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's claim that there was a fear of illegal gambling kingpins funding political parties, especially for the next general elections.
The home minister did not specify any political party but only ordered Penang police to eradicate illegal gambling activities in the state to stop these “kingpins”.
Zainal Abidin pointed out that DAP and its allies have always questioned Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno's source of funding.
“Yet, they don't reveal their source of funding,” he said.
He demanded to know if DAP had obtained funding from developers.
“If they are getting funding from developers, reveal the developers. Or is it from the money game? Political funding is a sensitive issue and DAP must be transparent to reveal this,” he said.
Zainal Abidin said BN and Umno's source of funding was very clear and above-board, claiming that it came from various welfare and private organisations and individuals.
“We have never accepted funding from illegal sources such as gambling, drugs, money game or any other illegal funds,” he said.
