KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — G25, the pro-moderation group comprising retired civil servants is working together with lawyers to draft a Political Parties Bill as part of a proposal to make political financing in Malaysia more transparent and accountable.

According to The Star, the Bill is part of three major reform ideas put forward by G25 and 70 non-governmental bodies in its recent report on proposed reforms for political financing for parties.

“A team of lawyers is already working on a draft and if the Go­­vernment does not table it in Par­­liament, we will do so as a Private Member’s Bill,” Universiti Malaya political economy Prof Terence Gomez was quoted saying.

Gomez, who was reportedly instrumental in preparing the report, added that the Bill seeks to ban secret and foreign funding for poli­tical parties.

Clauses under the Bill note the list of permissible and non-permissible donors, the disclosure of identities of donors giving above RM50, and for donations to be deposited immediately into party accounts as well as official receipts for all contributions.

“There should be a limit of RM10,000 per donor per year, RM100,000 per corporation a year and RM500,000 from a group of companies owned by the same majority shareholders.

“We also propose a cap of RM50,000 in annual donations for third party actors,” Gomez said.

G25’s report also stressed the need for more autonomy to be accorded to the Election Commission (EC),  as well as the formation of a nomination committee for a more transparent selection of its members.

The report also pushed for the introduction of direct public funding to all political parties.

“Public financing can help reduce reliance on private sources and help level the playing field for new and smaller parties as well as independent candidates,” he added, saying that the proposals have been submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on November 27 and that they will wait for a reply until January 15, 2016.

The Star also quoted G25 member and former Finance Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Sheriff Kassim as saying that should PM Najib not respond to their recommendations, the group would then embark on a roadshow.

“Of course, we will have to engage all levels of society, including the Op­­position, and improve our re­­form proposals where necessary,” he said.

The issue of political donations made headlines after it was reported that almost US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had been deposited into Najib’s personal accounts ahead of Election 2013.

Although the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has categorised this as a donation from the Middle East, questions remain over how the amount was used and whether it was spent during the 13th general election.

Detractors have claimed that the RM2.6 billion clearly exceeded the allowable spending limit stipulated by Malaysia’s election laws. PKR has also filed a lawsuit against the PM over the issue.

On August 14, Najib announced the formation of a bipartisan panel called the National Consultative Committee on Political Funding to gather input for a law to regulate political funding, saying this was necessary to ensure the country practised “healthy” politics.