MALAYSIA needs stricter regulation to end the use of political donations as a way to justify corruption in quid pro quo exchanges between the private sector and politicians, said Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M).
“Regulating political donations and expenditures are key requirements for stabilising politics, on top of restoring public trust in our democratic process.
“We urgently need reforms in this area to ensure democratic participation that is not undermined through vote buying or through unfair advantages in campaigning gained from corruption,” said its president Muhammad Mohan Abdullah in a webinar earlier today entitled “Money Politics: Financing Free and Fair Elections”.
Present at the event were Bersih 2.0 chairperson Thomas Fann and Universiti Malaya political analyst Prof Terence Gomez. Also participating were MPs Ong Kian Ming, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis and Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.
Sharing his views, Gomez said that the Government should enact a law to monitor on how money is used during party elections.
He added that the money politics culture started during party polls and the problem escalated to the national election system from then on.
“It is now widespread. If we really want to deal with this problem, we have to also look at how party elections are conducted. Let’s get to the root of the problem.
“And we also have to stop keeping Government-linked companies in the shadows if they truly want to be accountable to the voters,” Gomez added.
On a related matter, Fann said that a comprehensive amendment to the Election Offences Act 1954 in regulating campaign expenditure would go a long way to reign in on corrupt acts during elections.
“We also need to reform rules where political parties are barred from seeking funds from external or illegal sources.
“With that, let’s look into providing public funding to political parties based on a formula of vote and seat share won at the last election. We also recommend seat-based direct public funding to promote women’s representation in Malaysian politics,” he remarked. – Sept 25, 2021
