‘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.