‘Political funding law a vital step on road to reform’

PETALING JAYA: The proposed Political Funding Bill is another step in the right direction for reforms that were once thought not possible, says the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas).

Its chief executive officer Tricia Yeoh said the reason to push the political financing law through the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) was to get initial buy-in from all parties across the political spectrum.

“This has been our strategy – which we believe is the best strategy in pushing any reform – and we are intending to keep this up moving forward.

“Indirectly, we have the buy-in from almost all parties through the MPs who are represented in the APPG.

“As of now, our work on political financing is in line with the government plan and our next step is to meet up with party leaders to better educate and understand concerns on the limitations that come with the proposed law,” she told The Star.

Yeoh was responding to The Star’s report on a new law to regulate political contributions to ensure transparency and accountability.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had said that there will be no more unaccounted “stacks of cash” by politicians once laws on political funding are in place.

Yeoh said with the recently passed Anti-Hopping Bill and this new proposed one, Malaysia is moving in the right direction of reforms that were only thought of “as the most ideal” but not possible before.

However, she added that the only way to ensure the effectiveness of the law is for the government to appoint an independent committee or regulatory body to oversee the implementation of the Act.Prof James Chin from the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, Australia, said while the Political Funding Bill is important, it will not change the fundamentals of Malaysian politics.

“Obviously, shining a light on money going into politics is a good thing, but this is not going to change the nature of our ‘grey money’.

“For me, the most important thing is to control the power of the prime minister so the Bill I am interested to see is one limiting the tenure of the prime minister to two terms,” he said.

While Prof Chin said he supports the Political Funding Bill, he added that this would not solve the problem with the money in the system because there is no public funding of political parties in Malaysia.