Recalcitrant Zakaria

This is the type of Yang Berhormats belonging to the ruling UMNO-led coalition government. As R Nadeswaran of the Sun put it succintly yesterday:

First, his wife got the land from the state government for a song. Then he built a mansion without getting the necessary approvals. If the statute books had been thrown at him, he would have faced two years in jail.

But he was treated with velvet gloves - a compound fine of just RM21,000 - ten times the planning fee. That was in October. Call it an act of defiance if you may - but after two months, Port Klang assemblyman and former councillor, Datuk Zakaria Mat Deros has yet to settle the compound fine.

I've written earlier on the double standards in the application of our country's laws to UMNOputras. But for an "democratically" elected state assemblyman of this country to arrogantly ignore the even the slap-on-the-wrist meted out with "velvet gloves" by the authorities is just unbelievable.

Although this man "resigned" from the Klang Municipal Council position (which wasn't his yet in the first place), he remains an untouchable, as a state assemblyman in Selangor, yes, special Selangor. In other "developed" countries, elected representatives caught for such scandals would have resigned in disgrace. In Malaysia, they are celebrated.

Pak Lah, is this the type of elected representatives who you promised the country when you received record majorities in the last elections? What happened to your policies on Integrity or the implementation of Key Performance Indicators for your party leaders? Can you see that the Rakyat is disillusioned?