Umno Youth wants govt to table Political Funding Act

 

Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki says there should be a law requiring parties to report their financial resources. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth has urged the government to immediately table a Political Funding Act to ensure that parties report their financial resources transparently.

In a fiery speech at the Umno general assembly at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur today, youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said having a political funding law would prevent elements of corruption or abuse of power.

“There are quite a lot of parties (whose members) claim that they are young and they represent the masses,” he told the wing’s assembly.

“Supposedly, their party is fresh and their funds come from sympathetic supporters only.

“But we know that the millions of ringgit they spend actually come from financiers and businessmen who invest money in these parties to make them submit to their interests.”

Others in Umno who have called for such an Act include secretary-general Ahmad Maslan, who said last year the Barisan Nasional government had been planning to table such a bill since 2009.

The Act was not tabled in Parliament although a national committee was formed and submitted a report in 2016. Among its 32 recommendations was a Political Donations and Expenditure Act (PDEA).

Last October, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) head Azam Baki said while there was no specific law on political funding, the Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) was preparing a draft to be tabled to the Special Committee on Corruption.

Today, Asyraf suggested two other measures which he said would transform the country’s institutions and improve political culture – an anti-hopping law, and the separation of the roles of the attorney-general and the public prosecutor.

While the Prime Minister’s Department has reportedly postponed the tabling of the anti-hopping bill to a later date, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Ismail Sabri Yaakob had promised to table the bill in Parliament just last week.

It was earlier reported that Pakatan Harapan had told the government that their memorandum of understanding (MoU) would be declared void if the anti-hopping bill was not tabled at the current session of the Dewan Rakyat.

Asyraf said an anti-hopping law should be passed as soon as possible as it would help restore the rakyat’s trust in the democratic system.

“They have to be confident their votes are not in vain,” he said. - FMT