KUALA LUMPUR – Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar says the government is aiming to table a bill to regulate political financing in the coming Parliament sitting in October.
He said a memorandum is expected to be presented to the cabinet by September to seek approval to allow for the political funding bill to be brought to the Dewan Rakyat.
“I urge for the draft of the bill to be prepared as soon as possible to ensure engagements can be held with all stakeholders based on a timeline which will be prepared by the Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC).
“In the spirit of transparency and accountability in political governance, it is appropriate that this law is implemented immediately,” he said in a statement today.
While the proposed political financing act was not included in the memorandum of understanding between the government and Pakatan Harapan, the opposition coalition recently urged Putrajaya to make this one of its commitments as part of a parliamentary reform.
DAP’s Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming had said late last year that the spirit of the MoU would allow for discussions on such matters at a later stage.
Various other stakeholders, including civil society organisations (CSO) have also made similar calls for years.
The Malaysian Bar more recently warned that the lack of such a legislative framework has created an ecosystem ripe for corruption, cronyism, conflict of interest, and abuse of power.
According to Wan Junaidi, the decision on the political funding law came following a discussion with several government stakeholders, including GIACC, Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Registrar of Societies (RoS), Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), and the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU).
Among the aspects of the law discussed during the meeting include the setting up of a body to monitor political funding, who will be allowed to fund, and the penalty for offences under the proposed act.
“I have ordered GIACC to iron out policy matters, while BHEUU and AGC will prepare the administrative draft, by taking into account the views of CSO and non-government organisations.
“Separately, a comparative analysis on the use of the legislation in other countries will also be conducted as a benchmark for this law.”
Wan Junaidi said the law will also have to be coordinated with other existing legislation under SSM and RoS. – The Vibes, August 13, 2022
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