‘Money politics’ has become an ingrained feature of the Malaysian political system. While political parties must be allowed to have access to funding, it must be regulated efficiently to avoid corruption and mismanagement.
Currently, legal loopholes exist in how political parties source and distribute funds, both during and outside of campaign periods. A major problem is the lack of requirements for political parties to disclose their funding and spending. This lack of oversight has led to grand corruption in cases such as 1MDB, along with the entrenchment of the political-business nexus where business cronies receive government contracts and other benefits in exchange for political support and ‘donations’.
The economic power held by these politically-linked businessmen can also influence government policy and the direction of our country, which may benefit the elite but at the cost of the rest of the rakyat. A political financing act is urgently needed to break down this corruption-friendly system.
May 9, 2022 Political financing must be regulated to address the root cause of party-hopping, says a think tank. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) CEO Tricia Yeoh said that as long as political financing remained unregulated, the highly anticipated anti-hopping law would only be “treating the symptoms and not the cause” of party […]
April 22, 2022 Lawmakers from both the government and opposition, along with NGOs, have formed a parliamentary group to renew the push for a political financing law. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Political Financing said there has been little progress on political financing reforms in the last two years, something they hope to speed […]
April 21, 2022 The “Ulasan Lembaga Penasihat Pencegahan Rasuah (LPPR) 2020” a compilation of findings by the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board which outlines seven proposals for improvement in efforts to fight corruption in the country will soon be submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Special Committee on Corruption (JKMR) chairman Tan Sri Rais […]
October 8, 2021 THE draft for the proposed Political Funding Bill is ready but engagement with stakeholders is still needed, says Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic). The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) told the Dewan Rakyat he had two discussions with the Election Commission and the Attorney General on […]
October 2, 2021 The Malaysian Anti -Corruption Commission (MACC) is confident that the proposed Political Funding Act will serve as a guide for the agency to ascertain if political funds and contributions to parties or individuals are acts of corruption. MACC head Azam Baki said the country had no specific law on political funding, but […]
April 12, 2021 (PN) C4 Center, during the launch of its report titled ‘Foundations and Donations: Political Financing, Corruption, and the Pursuit of Power’ today, urges the government to table the Political Funding Bill immediately. C4 executive director Cynthia Gabriel said political funding through foundations often escapes the attention of pressure groups and the media. […]
July 16, 2020 (PN) Muhyiddin said the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) has not submitted the policy report on political funding for the government’s attention to the coordinator of the bill, the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC). In his reply to a supplementary question from Beaufort (Bersatu) MP Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun, the […]
June 09, 2020 (PN) The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) has defended its decision to withdraw the prosecution against former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, citing an affidavit by former AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail as one of the factors. In a statement, the AG Tan Sri Idrus Harun (pic) said that the […]
September 19, 2019 (PH) Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Political Funding Bill to be tabled in Parliament soon will effectively monitor and scrutinise funding, including donations contributed to political parties. He said there was fear that the money contributed to political parties may have elements of corruption. “We have a problem here, […]
September 17, 2019 (PH) A law to regulate political financing is expected to be tabled at next month’s Parliament session, said National Centre for Governance, Integrity, and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) director-general Abu Kassim Mohamed. The Star cited Abu Kassim as saying a law to establish an ombudsman could also be tabled as part of efforts to […]
(Attn: Cynthia Gabriel)