Umno president Najib Abdul Razak said he will disclose all political contributions given to the party if and only if the opposition did the same.
 
"I can explain in detail (about Umno's political funding) with the condition that the Opposition should reveal their funding sources too," he said.
 
Najib's remark came amid claims that RM2.6 billion was deposited into the prime minister's personal bank accounts.
 
According to The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ), the sum was deposited before the general elections, raising speculation that it may have been intended for the general election.
 
Najib had denied taking government funds for personal gain but did not address whether the sum was deposited into his private bank accounts.
 
Speaking at the Seremban Umno annual general meeting today, Najib said it was DAP which did not agree when the government pushed for a more transparent law on political donations in Malaysia.

'Bankrolling BN campaign'

A WSJ report on June 19 claimed that 1MDB's funds were used to bankroll BN's campaign in the 13th general election.

The report said this was achieved by having 1MDB make overpriced purchase of power assets from Genting Group in 2012.

Genting then made a donation to a foundation called Yayasan Rakyat 1 Malaysia chaired by Najib before the 13th general elections and it claimed the funds were used for campaigning.

"The 1MDB fund in October 2012 acquired a Genting unit that owned a 75 percent stake in a 720-megawatt gas-fired power plant near Kuala Lumpur.

"The price, which was equivalent to about US$740 million at the time, came to RM2.3 billion.

"A few months after the sale, a unit of Genting called Genting Plantations Bhd made a donation of about US$10 million to a Najib-linked charity, according to a spokesperson for Genting Plantations," said the report.

Yesterday, Umno's new information chief Abdul Rahman Dahalan ( photo ) said when he was a member of MACC's Special Committee on Corruption from 2008 to 2014, Najib and his party are the first to welcome the commission's idea for a more transparent political funding reform.

However it was staunchly opposed by DAP and PKR.

"One of the first parties to object to the funding reform was DAP. The reason given by DAP was largely self-serving – and what a huge disappointment that had been. DAP's leaders said they feared that the reform would put DAP at a disadvantage.

"On 1 Dec 2010, in a meeting with Transparency International–Malaysia with Pakatan Rakyat members of parliament, Tian Chua was reported in the minutes of the meeting to have said he feared that full disclosure would hurt their contributors and consequently the financing for the opposition," Rahman had said.

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