Political Funding Act only way to ensure clean polls, says ex-EC man

 

Former Election Commission deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said a Political Funding Act would make the election process more clean, dignified and trusted by the rakyat. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Corruption and the “buying and selling” of elected representatives will continue to be an issue at elections unless the government enacts a Political Funding Act, says former Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

In an interview with Utusan Malaysia, Wan Ahmad said the 15th general election (GE15), as with the other state and general elections before this, would continue to be plagued by such issues as there were no specific laws for the EC to act on.

“Every time there is a general election, the EC will try to ensure it is clean and fair.

“But because there are certain things that are lacking, especially a Political Funding Act, there are issues beyond the EC’s control,” said Wan Ahmad.

“Through such an Act, our election process will be more clean, dignified and trusted by the rakyat.”

Wan Ahmad also said the enactment of a Political Funding Act and an Anti-Party Hopping Act would ensure political stability in the country, noting that their absence had led to financial leakages and the country’s political integrity to be tarnished.

“Without a Political Funding Act, parties are able to abuse the government’s position and gain large financial contributions from undeclared sources. This not only leads to inequality in politics, but also corruption and malpractices.

“If the prime minister is considering dissolving Parliament after July, there are many electoral and political reforms that need to be carried out over the next three months so that we can have a better GE15.”

Last October, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) head Azam Baki said although 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.

Wan Ahmad said while he was part of a technical committee under the Barisan Nasional administration to draft a Political Funding Act, he said these efforts failed once BN lost GE14 in 2018.

In October 2019, then law minister Liew Vui Keong said the government would table the Political Funding Bill, focusing on the regulatory aspects of political contributions, in 2020.

The late minister had said this was fundamental in efforts to eliminate corruption and create a corruption-free ecosystem among future generations, based on the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity.

However, Wan Ahmad said Pakatan Harapan’s struggle with internal problems meant it was “too busy” to implement a Political Funding Act. This was despite this being part of its pre-election manifesto.

Wan Ahmad said the Perikatan Nasional administration should have continued working towards passing a political funding bill, but said it had its hands full dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and political issues. - FMT