Set up independent panel to protect political donors, says think tank

 

Tricia Yeoh of IDEAS and Thomas Fann of Bersih have called for transparency and unbiased enforcement of rules on political donations.

PETALING JAYA: A think tank and an electoral watchdog group are calling for an independent commission to be set up to protect political donors from being victimised, once a new law on political financing comes about.

The heads of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs and of the Bersih reform group said donors should not be punished or victimised for donating to the political parties of their choice.

IDEAS chief executive Tricia Yeoh said transparency is one of the key premises of a proposed political financing bill that was drafted earlier this year.

The draft bill called for an independent Political Financing Commission to be created.

“It is crucial for the commission or regulating body to be independent and unbiased in its enforcement,” she said.

She suggested that the commission be given access to all data on all donations to political parties; however, only those donations above a significant amount should be tabled in Parliament and made accessible to the public.

She said the commission’s independence would be crucial to ensure that donor data is not leaked.

Bersih chief Thomas Fann said the identity of donors, including corporate donors, should be known only to the independent commission and the recipients.

“Further protection can only come when certain agencies like MACC, AGC, PDRM and LHDN are freed from the influence of the executive so that they cannot be used to punish those who donate to the opposition,” he said.

“These agencies must also be accountable to various bodies so that they could be queried if there are complaints against them.”

Last week, Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan said that the political financing bill must protect donors from victimisation by the government of the day.

He said a prerequisite for transparency in political financing was a guarantee that donors would not be victimised for supporting the political parties of their choice.

A political financing bill was to be tabled in Parliament last year but was not ready before Parliament was dissolved to pave the way for a general election.

In 2015, then prime minister Najib Razak had announced a consultative committee on political financing to develop a plan to ensure transparency and governance over party funds.
He said he had first mooted proposals to regulate political donations since 2009 but had not received a response.

Subsequently politicians and NGOs called for a political financing law following reports that Najib had received a political donation of US$681 million (RM2.99 billion) in his personal bank account. - FMT