Weeding out politics of patronage

Transparency International Malaysia says state funding to political parties could help sever the unhealthy connection between politics and business.

PETALING JAYA: The enforcement agencies in the country must be empowered to act without fear or favour before a legislation on political financing can be introduced, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) said.

Its president Paul Low said that agencies such as the Election Commission (EC) are perceived to be not impartial.

Moreover, there is the danger that the powers-that-be may target contributors funding the rival camp and disrupt their businesses.

“That’s the danger. We have yet to come to that level of political maturity, where the contributors’ democratic choice is respected,” said Low.

Last month, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that the government would introduce new regulations under the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) to regulate political financing to curb politicians from illegally using their party’s name to solicit funds.

Subsequently, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala said a two-tier system of control would be introduced on political fundings, starting with the Barisan Nasional component parties.

The first tier would involve internal control by political parties to curb abuse of power and the second tier would include better regulations to facilitate better detection, prevention and enforcement by anti-graft agencies.

Lauding the move to legislate political funding, Low said the government should consider disbursing state funds to political parties to curb the latter from soliciting funds from illegal sources such as criminal syndicates.

“There are lot of young politicians out there with calibre who could not make it to the top due to shortage of funds.

“Many who are occupying office now got there because they have the funds, not necessarily the quality, to become the people’s representatives,” Low said.

He also said that it was important to put a cap on political funding, be it from individual donors or corporate entities.

He said that the authorities need to deliberate on the limit, but added that the donations should not run into millions.

“Due to lack of regulations, many business entities donate millions to politicians. Once in power, the politicians will feel obliged to their benefactors and will offer them government contracts.

“This will create an unhealthy link between politics and business, which will invariably lead to politics of patronage,” said Low.

Introduce a single law

Low added that the government should also ensure that political parties not only reveal their source of funds but also how they spend them.

“The expenditures must be monitored so that the funds are not abused.

“For example, it’s all right if you buy ‘nasi lemak’ for the constituents but handing out money to village heads and buying them boats should be made illegal,” he said, adding that the funds must be directed to political parties, not indviduals.

In December, a blogger had accused Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Husin of receiving cash contributions worth RM100,000 from a businessman as a bribe for a project.

Awang Adek dismissed the allegation, saying that the funds were used for some social development projects in his constituency although the money was wired to his personal account.

Low also said that all political parties should be governed under one law, which could be called the Political Parties Act.

“There are many things in the country that need to be deregulated but the political process must be regulated in order to weed out money politics as it undermines our democratic process,” he said.

Low also said that political parties should be registered under the EC instead of the Registrar of Societies (ROS) so that the electoral body could monitor them directly.