COMMENT | The money factor in elections and politics

COMMENT | People presumably in the know say that the Umno Baru/BN election campaign this year has been starved of money. Why? Because former PM Najib Abdul Razak - yes, he of 1MDB fame - languishes in jail and the alleged funding of elections from illicit 1MDB funds which happened in 2018 and 2013 has dried up.

How much this will impede BN’s ability to garner votes at GE15 is highly debatable but it is obvious from anecdotal evidence obtained by visiting some constituencies that some of the candidates are better funded than others, irrespective of the parties they come from.

Interestingly, days before the elections, High Court judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin found that on a balance of probability, money and jewellery worth RM680 million seized from the Pavilion residences in 2018 were not the result of unlawful activity.

That decision, however, does not explain how the wealth was obtained. Are there not laws which require proof to be shown as to how assets were obtained and whether the necessary declarations were made?

However, cash from this even if it were returned now - and they probably won’t be if the government appeals the decision and asks for a stay of execution - may be too late for GE15.

If one takes a walk along the main streets of Kuala Selangor, one can’t help being inundated by prominent posters of BN, with a sprinkling of PN and Pakatan Harapan posters, especially in more...