PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man wants the government to introduce a political funding act as soon as possible to provide clarity.

He said there should be clear guidelines on the matter since every political party needs funds to manage their affairs.

He said the latest investigations into Perikatan Nasional (PN) ally Bersatu make it necessary for the act to be introduced.

“I thought there was something big behind Muhyiddin Yassin’s cases, but since they are before the courts now, we don’t want to get into that. But I see that many of the charges involve funds channelled to a political party,” Tuan Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insight in an interview.

“PAS was one of the parties that initially sent a memorandum seeking a political funding act so that we can solve the funding issues.

“Political donations apply to all parties and if people want to give, we won’t reject it because it’s not a personal donation. But that’s a matter for the court to decide now and I won’t comment further.” 

He said PAS had previously highlighted the political funding laws of Turkey and New Zealand.

“In Turkey and New Zealand, they make the funding correspond with the number of votes the party gets. Let’s say the party gets a million votes, then they can collect three dollars per vote. So each party depends on the number of votes they get,” he said. 

Tuan Ibrahim said the law should allow political parties to be involved in business.

He also said the act can be expanded to monitor contributions from abroad.

“But we also have to see if we are given permission to do business because parties may have conflicts of interest,” he said.

“That’s why if we want to give a party the freedom to do business. We have to ensure that the entire process is transparent.

“There must be an audit to establish the source of funds.”

Tuan Ibrahim said he agreed with Bersatu president and PN chairman Muhyiddin that the authorities should also investigate political funds of all parties, including Umno and DAP.

On the prosecution of Muhyiddin, he said it was an attack to weaken PN.

“The prosecution of Muhyiddin is to damage PN’s integrity,” he added. – March 14, 2023.