Bipartisan group, think tank reveal draft bill on political financing
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Political Financing and think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) have revealed a draft bill on political funding.
This comes after the bipartisan parliamentary group submitted a motion to table a private member’s bill on political funding to Parliament on July 13.
Ideas representative Aira Azhari outlined the objective of the bill in...
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Political Financing and think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) have revealed a draft bill on political financing.
This comes after the bipartisan parliamentary group submitted a motion to table a private member’s bill on political funding to Parliament on July 13.
Ideas representative Aira Azhari outlined the objective of the bill in a presentation during a press conference via Zoom today.
“The objective of the bill is to regulate political parties’ sources of funding either through public funding or private donations to curb corruption.
“It also provides a level playing field during election, strengthens transparency and makes the process of financing politics more accountable,” she said.
The proposed bill explicitly states that donations can only be received directly by the political parties.
“Only political parties can receive donations either in terms of cash or in kind, according to the proposed bill.
“This would mean that no party office bearers' personal bank accounts are allowed to receive donations.
“Any fundraising events done by political parties must also be able to provide the necessary documentation or record of receipts to a Political Financing Commission upon request,” she explained.
Donation limit
Additionally, the bill also proposes a capping limit for political donations per one financial year.
The amounts proposed are RM50,000 from individual donors, RM100,000 from companies, and RM500,000 from a group of companies.
Aira said most prominent figures have expressed the need for the bill as well and for there to be further discussions including from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had also previously said he hoped to implement other reforms following the passing of an anti-hopping law and one such reform he mentioned was a political financing bill.
Speaking at the press conference, APPG chairperson Ahmad Fadhli Shaari was pleased that they were able to submit the draft bill to the Dewan Rakyat secretary last month.
“We are having this press conference today to show the public the details of the proposed bill,” said the Pasir Mas MP.
The APPG is a group consisting of nine MPs and one senator from nine political parties.
The group serves to advocate the need for laws on the issue of political financing through the support from civil society organisations and lawmakers from across the political divide.
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