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Minister wants to include opposition's 'tin Milo' donations in reforms
Published:  Sep 30, 2016 8:13 PM
Updated: 11:27 PM

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan wants more oversight, apart from the proposals by the national consultative committee on political financing, and for the opposition's "tin Milo" donations to be included.

"I believe the new initiative should not just look at the big amount donations.

"The weekly opposition ceramah, which involve donation drives by passing around the "tin Milo" to collect donations from the attendees, should also be scrutinised. In addition, donation drives through sponsored dinners must be looked at.

"Perhaps each donation is small, but since the volume is large, the final figure could be huge and could run into millions in one year," Rahman said in Facebook posting today.

The consultative committee today announced 32 recommendations, including requiring parties to declare any donors that contribute more than RM3,000 a year. Small donations are exempted from regulations.

Rahman also lauded the committee's proposal to abolish the spending limit by political parties and election candidates, calling it "impractical" and "irrelevant".

However, he believes the proposals may see an early demise, due to the opposition's refusal to back the recommendation.

Rahman said this in reference to comments from DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli and Parti Amanah Negara communications director Khalid Samad (photo).

"For years, the opposition has been harping on foreign donations.

"When the government is taking steps to address the issue, you have three 'political monkeys' jumping up and down, thumbing it down. How pathetic!" he said.

Rahman said the excuses by the opposition were "lame".

"Loke said small businessmen will be afraid of disclosure, citing possible victimisation by the federal government.

"If Anthony he is right, then it is also true that businessmen in Penang and Selangor who donate to BN, will be victimised by Pakatan Harapan state governments by denying them local licences, such as trading licence and development planning licence.

"In fact, some say that is what is actually happening right now in the two states," said Rahman, who is also BN strategic communications director.

He added that the reform should encompass more, including the opposition's alleged tendency to demonise the BN.

'Corruption now just about money'

"Corruption during elections is not just about money. Over-promising to the electorates also can be a form of corruption. The opposition is notoriously known for this.

"They like to promise the moon and the stars, without regard to the adverse consequences to the economy and the future of the nation. Who is going to monitor that?

"The opposition also likes to spread unverified stories early in the voting day in order to swing the afternoon votes to them.

"So, in my opinion, a more detailed and all-encompassing law must be put in place.

"Focusing solely on political funding would not do justice to our efforts to improve the transparency of election process in this country," he said.

Rahman said it was ironic that people think BN is a "bully", simply because it is the government.

"The reality is that the opposition has been the big bully all this while, through a systematic smear campaign, which is based on lies and fabricated stories.

"They churn out unsubstantiated allegations after allegations designed to demonise BN. They are pushing the envelope of hatred to the limit.

"This needs to be checked as well. In order to move forward, we should not allow politics of demonisation, politics of hatred and politics of character defamation to dominate political campaigns," Rahman added.

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