BERSATU making public its party account statements earlier this week was nothing more than a political stunt, observers said. 

They said the money Perikatan Nasional spent on the general election did not come from those accounts. 

They were commenting on the disclosure by Marzuki Mohamad, former principal private secretary to Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin on January 31 that the party had published its account statements for the years 2020 and 2021.

Marzuki said those who accused Bersatu of receiving RM4 billion from the RM92.5 billion economic stimulus package fund should see the audited account statements.

“They don’t lie,” he said, and added they have been filed at the Registrar of Societies.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which on Thursday confirmed it had frozen Bersatu’s accounts to let anti-graft watchdogs look into the party’s cash flow and the RM300mil it was said to have received.

University of Tasmania academic James Chin described the disclosure as “a beat-up story (to) waste everybody’s time”.

“Everybody knows the published accounts are not real.”

Chin said the accounts, which Marzuki claimed were audited, only reported expenses that were issued with receipts and not likely to court controversy, like paying staff salary, rentals, utility bills or party events.

“They don’t report the grey money; the money spent in elections.”

Chin said no party in Malaysia, for that matter, has ever reported its grey money, which in elections could run up to a few hundred million ringgit.

He said the numbers in Bersatu’s account statements are therefore “rubbery figures”. 

“They are done to satisfy the law and legal requirements. No bearing on reality. 

“Everybody knows that in Malaysia, you cannot regulate political money. You can only regulate to a certain extent but the big money that moves around during elections, it is never reported.”

Chin said even if the accounts do “shine a light” and Bersatu publishes everything, “it’s not going to make one iota of a difference” because people will still cast doubts on it.

He gave, as example, how political parties in Sarawak and Sabah use funds for elections for things like “fuel money” and even providing transport for voters to get to the polling stations.

“Would that constitute bribery?

“How to report that money (in their account)? It’s just not possible.”

Universiti Malaya political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi said every party has the right to defend itself against accusations and negative perceptions with whatever means it has available.

“It is not wrong for (Bersatu) to present its arguments,” he said. – February 5, 2023.