Ban secret and foreign political funding, Bersih tells Putrajaya

Electoral reform group Bersih has called on Putrajaya to ban secret and foreign political funding, after the government announced it would be drafting a new law to regulate political finances.

"The Political Funding Bill should ban secret and foreign funding, party ownership of businesses, and donations from government-linked companies to political parties.

"It should (also) limit contribution (amounts) to prevent political parties’ overreliance on wealthy and corporate interest groups that donate with the expectation of political influence in return on government policies and development projects," Bersih said in a statement today.

The NGO also called on the government to engage all stakeholders while drafting the bill.

National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) chief Abu Kassim Mohamed said yesterday that a Political Funding Bill would be drafted with immediate effect.

The former BN government under Najib Abdul Razak had initially expressed its commitment to a Political Financing Act but later delayed tabling the bill for it.

Political financing became a hot issue after Najib claimed to have received US$681 million from a Saudi royal as a political donation.

The transaction is currently the subject of investigations, with Najib's critics claiming the funds had been misappropriated from 1MDB. -Mkini