Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has urged both BN and Pakatan Rakyat to adhere to transparent political financing and agree on a spending cap for the Bukit Gelugor and Teluk Intan by-elections campaign.

 

"If our politicians, both in the government and the opposition, are really sincere about eradicating corruption, they should come to an agreement to reduce expenditure incurred in the upcoming by-elections," said TI-M president Akhbar Satar.

 

The Election Offences Act 1954 already provides an expenditure cap of RM200,000 for a parliamentary candidate but Akhbar noted the Election Commission (EC) did not have a strong mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability on election funding.

 

"TI-M suggests that political parties should set proper limits or keeping election expenditure to a minimum to prevent corruption and misuse of funds.

 

"TI-M urges the government to regulate financing for all political parties where all forms of contributions and funding must be channelled to an official party account and not into political candidates’ personal bank accounts," he said.

 

Akhbar said these measures are more relevant than ever after the latest Malaysian Corruption Barometer (MCB) 2014 survey showed the public thought political parties to be the most corrupt institution of all.

 

45 percent of 2,032 respondents thought political parties were corrupt, followed by police (42 percent), public officials and civil servants (31 percent), judiciary (24 percent), Parliament (23 percent), private sector (23 percent).