Bersih wants govt to implement public funding policy

 

Electoral watchdog Bersih has urged the prime minister, political parties and the Election Commission (EC) to implement a public funding policy for political parties in Malaysia starting with RM133 million in allocation.

In a statement, its steering committee said the implementation of a policy is crucial to increase the transparency of political party funding and level playing ground between ruling and opposition parties.

It noted that more than two-thirds of the countries in the world already have laws that provide for public funding for political parties.

The call is made based on a research report launched by Bersih today entitled "Public Funding for Political Parties: Debates, Case Studies and Recommendations" by Ooi Kok Hin, who is an analyst from the School of Political Science at Waseda University, Tokyo.

According to the electoral reform group, the channelling of funds to political parties would be done in accordance with three recommendations:

1. Vote-based direct public funding to political parties for regular party and campaign expenses. The amount of public funding will be given proportionately to the number of votes the party received in the most recent election.

The threshold for the political party's eligibility to receive this fund is two percent in any of the regions of Peninsular, Sabah or Sarawak.

The threshold based on these three regions aims to ensure that regional parties in Sabah and Sarawak are not discriminated against and also to respect the spirit of 1963 Malaysia Agreement.

2. Seat-based direct public funding to promote women's representation in Malaysian politics. Bersih proposes an allocation of RM10 million to be set aside for this proposal. The main purpose is to promote women's representation in the Parliament.

The more women MPs there are, the more the party would receive public funding annually. Small parties can also benefit by nominating female candidates in competitive seats.

3. The third proposal is indirect public funding through the subsidies such as broadcast, printing, postal and free use of government and public buildings at certain times.

This proposal will cost less than the previous two proposals and can provide valuable assistance and resources to political parties. - Mkini