Polls candidacy — for a price
Con men claim to be able to boost aspirant’s chances with right connections
KUALA LUMPUR: With talk of the 13th general election being around the corner, aspiring candidates are being targeted by con men who claim they have the power to secure seats.
The confidence tricksters, who claimed to “have strong ties with top Barisan Nasional leaders”, have been demanding thousands of ringgit from their victims.
If a candidate-wannabe agrees to grease their palms, the con men would use the “right connection” to push his or her name to the top of the candidates’ list.
A prospective candidate, who had been openly lobbying for a parliamentary seat in Negri Sembilan, was one such victim.
He was approached by a man who claimed that he could lobby for a seat using such connections.
“The man claimed that my name was one of many being considered for a parliamentary seat,” the former state assemblyman said yesterday. “And, that he knows people who can bring it to the top of the list.
“He requested thousands of ringgit to ensure this, but I declined. I told him that I needed time to look into it.”
The seasoned politician, who is in his 60s, said this was the first time that he encountered such a claim.
Elsewhere in Selangor, a 48-year-old parliamentary constituency coordinator who is seeking to contest in the polls said he was approached by a “journalist” who claimed he could boost his credentials via newspaper write-ups. “But it comes with a price,” he said. “The so-called newsman wanted me to pay for the write-ups. When I checked with my friends in the media, I was shocked to learn that he was a bogus journalist.”
MIC Youth chief T. Mohan confirmed the existence of such confidence tricksters, adding that he was once approached by several people claiming to be able to lobby a seat for him.
He expressed his irritation over such dubious claims, adding that the issue of candidacy and seats were solely addressed by the party’s top leadership.
“I told them off, and said that for MIC, it would be the prerogative of our president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel to decide who ought to be candidates.”