Coverage by: Free Malaysia Today (FMT)
Related News: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2023/09/04/have-law-on-appointment-involvement-of-mps-in-glcs-c4-tells-govt/
PETALING JAYA: An anti-corruption watchdog has called for a law to be enacted to regulate political appointments and the involvement of MPs in government-linked companies (GLCs).
The Center to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4) said holding posts in GLCs may hamper MPs from performing their duties effectively.
It said the “insidious” link between business and politics was made worse by the lack of regulation on political financing, which “enables GLCs to be potentially used as vehicles to siphon funds for politicians’ personal interests”.
“If these roles are preventing MPs from performing their responsibilities, the government should seriously consider restraining this overlap of duties.
“The engagement of MPs in GLCs not only hampers their effectiveness in their roles as parliamentarians, but also poses challenges to the GLCs they lead.
“This is due to the divided attention between their constituency work and their responsibility to ensure the GLCs fulfil their objectives,” it said in a statement.
C4 called for the formulation of laws to regulate political appointments to GLCs and to prevent MPs from being appointed to these posts altogether.
It also called for the much-awaited political financing law to be expedited and for Parliament to convene for more days annually.
The group backed Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul’s proposal for the MPs’ daily allowance of RM400 to be docked if they fail to attend Parliament proceedings.
Several MPs had opposed the proposal, saying their absence may be due to other official duties involving their constituencies or GLCs.
C4 said the meeting allowance of RM400 a day, provided for under Section 5 of the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) Act 1980, was intended to help less wealthy elected officials perform their official duties and responsibilities.
“The meeting allowance should not be considered an entitlement, but an assistive tool to facilitate MPs’ attendance in Parliament,” it said.Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.
