COMMENT Since the BN’s strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s challenge to Pakatan Rakyat to declare its stand on political funding, we have not had a response from any of the Pakatan component parties.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself himself has also repeated this challenge to introduce reforms of the laws on political funding, claiming that he is prepared to do so if it was reciprocated by the Pakatan parties.

For those who did not read this challenge from the BN, Rahman ( photo ) claims in a Letter published by The Star on Aug 1 that “it was none other than Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak… who publicly declared his support to the MACC’s proposal (for political funding reforms)”.

Rahman said it was the DAP and PKR that opposed the proposals, claiming these would not be advantageous to Pakatan:

“So I find it rather perplexing that lately the likes of Tony Pua and Lim Kit Siang have been hypocritical enough in demanding Najib reveals the sources of political funding for BN and Umno when they have maliciously rejected the political funding reform initiative in the first place.”
 
1MDB and political funding

It does not take a genius to see that the 1MDB scandal is tied up with political funding. Thus, while the Umno president keeps saying he has never used the money for his own purposes, he has not categorically denied that the funds were channelled into his personal account.

Given the fact that such a style of funding in the preceding elections is an open secret, it can be presupposed that this money was similarly used during the last general election.

Is this why the PM has the full support of the all the BN leaders in the cabinet, despite the fact that he has been caught in the act of channelling funds into his personal account?

In the last analysis, these BN leaders have been the beneficiaries of these election funds. Thus, what is at stake is not only the credibility of Umno but the question of election funding in general through the years, including the era of Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( photo ).

Remember the RM5 billion arms deal that was inked by Mahathir and then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher towards the end of the Eighties, and the allegations of kickbacks in some of those contracts?

In the Paris Papers on the Scorpene Scandal, the French investigators state how the money is believed to be meant for Umno’s funds, rather than any particular beneficiary.

A plug on both your houses!

The Malaysian civil society is not interested in any excuses by the two coalitions in dragging their feet and not declaring the sources and amount of political funding they receive. Bersih has, among its demands, “to strengthen public institutions” and that means ensuring that:
  • The income and spending of electoral campaigners is transparent;
     
  • The sources of political funding are controlled; and
     
  • There are spending limits on campaigning at elections.

While Pakatan is the opposition at federal level, it is the governing coalition in Selangor and in Penang and so it cannot continue to play the underdog and claim that it will be disadvantaged if forced to declare its sources of political funding.

Bersih should show its non-partisan role by demanding the immediate reform into transparent political funding in the country. This includes:
  • Full transparency, with details of the income and spending of the political parties and other campaigners to be published by an Independent Electoral Commission, including political parties’ annual accounts; donations and loans to political parties and other campaigners and their campaign spending; and
     
  • Parties must record the donations and loans they receive, ensure they are from a legitimate source, and report larger donations and loans to the independent commission.

These should be made available for scrutiny by members of the public on the commission’s online database. Disclosure of contributions should be required annually, as well as just before and soon after an election.


KUA KIA SOONG is adviser to human rights movement Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).