Make allocations for political funding, Rafizi tells Selangor
The Selangor state government should make allocations for political funding in its budget, suggested PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli.
The Selangor state government should make allocations for political funding in its budget, suggested PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli.
As corruption is too intertwined with politics in Malaysia, there is a need to “institutionalise investment in political parties”, said Rafizi.
Likening politics to business, he said that the era of “cloak and dagger” dealings were over - if parties lied or cheated, the people would know sooner or later.
If a mechanism can be implemented to provide funding to all political parties, regardless of affiliation, then the problem can be dealt with, he said at a forum in Subang this afternoon.
Rafizi told the crowd that a substantial allocation was not needed - the Selangor state government will only need to prove that such a move was viable, in the hope that the other states will follow.
In every election, then, the people will be given good options to choose from, he argued.
“Democracy has a budget, too,” he quipped.
The forum, titled ‘
Ke Arah Pendemokrasian Pilihan Raya Di Malaysia: Mitos atau Realiti?
’ (Towards the Democratisation of Elections in Malaysia: Myth or Reality?) was held as part of the two-day Selangor 2013 Budget dialogue.
Also speaking at the forum was Universiti Malaya science of philosophy lecturer Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki ( right ). The forum was moderated by Selangor state exco member Yaakob Sapari.
Mohd Zuhdi emphasised the decentralisation of power, charging that the Federation of Malaysia had now returned to the centralised Malayan Union model once opposed by Umno.
‘Return to Malayan Union’
“Umno fought against the Malayan Union in the past, and wanted federalism. But this federalism has been violated, and now we have returned to the Malayan Union,” he told the attendees.
Malaysia’s sporting instutitions, for example, have been taken over by politicians rather than the athletes themselves.
“They (politicians) can be patrons to help develop the sport, but should not interfere (in the institutions),” he said.
Instead, power should be given to the community and civil societies in order to expand public participation and institute a check-and-balance system, he said.
He suggested the establishment of local newspapers as one example, saying they would present channels for local communities to disseminate information, such as new development projects in the area.
In this way, locals would know of upcoming projects in their area and be able to provide the feedback necessary to guide development, rather than “wake up one day to find a building next to their house”, Mohd Zuhdi argued.
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