THE special cabinet committee on anti-corruption has agreed in principle to a political funding bill.

The former Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman said corruption, and the “buying and selling” of elected representatives would continue to be an issue unless the government passed a political funding act.

However, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin has called for more discussions because he doesn’t want flip flops.

The minister may be unaware of a Transparency International-Malaysia memorandum on political financing reforms with 22 key recommendations to then prime minister Najib Razak in May 2011.

Najib then instituted a national consultative committee on political financing. In 2015, TI-M republished a summary of its key recommendations, covering state funding, regulation for reporting of political financing, full disclosure of political party and candidate financing, and regulating political donations.

Some 70 civil society groups also submitted a comprehensive proposal in 2016, which included passing a political donation and expenditure act.

These were reportedly publicly endorsed by the then Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) also has confidence in the bill.

TI-M also produced a report on recommendations on political financing for open government partnership (OGP) action plans.

I wonder why the minister is making it so difficult. Meanwhile, what is Interesting is Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan wants it expedited.

If it can be abused, it will be abused. Despite the thoroughness of laws enacted, politicians will almost constantly search for loopholes to exploit.

Well, money and politics are intrinsically interlinked.

We have a cause for concern since we have dropped in ranking to number 62 in the TI-M Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021.

Sadly, after 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government was also sitting on it.

The election reforms committee recommended that the government allocate funding to all political parties to level the playing field.

To avoid unwelcome outside influence, certain groups such as foreign countries, state-owned companies, public corporations and public benefit organisations are not allowed to donate to political parties.

Parties were now beneficiaries of much funding from companies, which led to monetisation of politics. Opposition parties too have been reluctant about reforming the financing of politic parties. The reform is now left to civil society.

The 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal has made it more urgent to have the PFA, after billions have been channelled into a personal bank account.

It is sufficiently compelling, since it is has been argued that the money was from a foreign donor to finance the 2013 general elections, thus impugning the reputation of Malaysia on the world stage.

Our beloved country cannot progress if we have ruling parties that only function when its members are served by different forms of patronage or given money on a regular basis by party leaders to remain loyal.

Corruption will escalate and be widespread, coupled with the inability of a new more qualified and forward-looking breed to rise in the party hierarchy.

Warlords are unwilling to relinquish party positions where juicy concessions are available. Hence, it was not surprising to see re-election of leaders with tarnished records and severely blemished reputations.

Sadly, when Najib took office in 2009, he stated his primary objectives were to end the practices of patronage and rent-seeking.

Apart from the Election Commission, whose role is to create a level playing field, the Registrar of Societies (under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs) also has a role to play.

Political parties are governed by the Societies Act 1966 and there should be close scrutiny of the financial accounts they submit, since they are not disclosed to the public and do not require parties to reveal their sources of funding.

There is also no law to set limits on contributions and spending.

It seems parties have independent disciplinary committees or an ombudsman council but have they issued reports on this matter to party members?

A political funding act will enhance the integrity of present leaders and be an attraction to foreign investors to come back.

Political integrity is not using power to maintain and increase the office holder’s own wealth and position.

Political parties must give voters something worthwhile to vote for.

The longer we wait, it may reflect that political decision-makers tend to abuse their positions for private gains.

If there is still some residual tarnish, there are enough inputs for the act to be passed in the blink of an eye and the rakyat is waiting with a twinkle in its eye.

What say you…? – June 10, 2022.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.