PENAMPANG: Parti Warisan (Warisan) President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said it is pointless for MPs to declare their assets if no action is taken on any discrepancies.
While he welcomed the idea, he said it was more important for the law to be enforced rather than just declaring assets, especially in situations where some MPs may conceal the true amount of their wealth.
“Some would declare, but (in reality) their assets are more than that. Are there any actions taken? It is not for display.
“For God’s sake, if there is any kind of tremendous or sudden explicit change in the wealth they acquired, there must be certain questions posed.
“We cannot have double standards. Too many of them (MPs) had all sorts of assets all of a sudden in a short period of time, but were there any actions taken?” he told a press conference after the Ceramah Perdana with Warisan Leaders at Funky Farm food court, here, Friday.
Shafie said he did not mind declaring his assets and that he had been doing so while he was in the cabinet.
“I still declare my assets as an MP. (And) I don’t mind asking our (Warisan) MPs to declare, if they’ve even got anything to declare,” he said, while reiterating that enforcement was more important.
Various political parties have differing takes on the matter ahead of the 15th General elections (GE15).
Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) candidates have taken the move to declare their assets in the past week, while Democratic Action Party (DAP) has not made it mandatory for its candidates to do so.
However, DAP Secretary General Anthony Loke was reported as saying that candidates would only need to declare assets if they were elected and sworn in as Cabinet ministers.
Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) President Abdul Hadi Awang was reported as saying that PKR’s decision to declare assets was a “stupid” move and that showing good character is enough.
On Saturday, PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim called out Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates who have yet to declare their assets ahead of GE15, saying that it is a clear indication that BN and PN are not ready to be transparent.
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