KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng today disputed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement that Barisan Nasional spent RM41 million for deposits during Election 2013, and claimed this was overstated by RM29 million.

Lim said his calculations showed that less than RM12 million was needed to pay for every BN candidates’ deposit in the general election, despite the BN chairman saying the amount came up to RM41 million.

“I did quick equation. For an MP we need RM15,000 deposit. For ADUN I’m not sure but its definitely cheaper,” he said using the Malay acronym for state representatives.

“There are 222 MP seats and 567 state seats nationwide. If you plus 222 and 567, multiply RM15,000, it is less than RM12 million,” he said during a press conference at the DAP headquarters today.

Lim also urged BN lawmakers to clarify whether they paid their own deposits or if Najib did so as stated.

“If they fork out their own deposit they have to come out and deny this,” the DAP lawmaker added.

News portal MalaysiaKini reported Najib as saying yesterday that the cost for the deposits for all constituencies in the last election amounted to RM41 million.

Najib said this at the Kepala Batas Umno division meet, controverting remarks made by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said that only RM10 million was used for each general election campaign during his tenure as prime minister.

The current spotlight on political financing follows the emergence of a RM2.6 billion donation into Umno president and PM Najib’s personal bank accounts ahead of Election 2013, which the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has recently said came from unidentified donors from the Middle East.