KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 ― Election Commission (EC) chairman Azhar Azizan Harun wants better governance on political financing during polls, suggesting that a cap be introduced on the amount political parties can receive and that donors be required to register themselves.

He said at a forum here today that there were currently no laws in Malaysia to regulate political financing and this has compelled the commission to make it part of the reforms it is pursuing with with the electoral reform committee.

"There must be some form of registration of donors and cap on the donations. These are the two basic purviews we are looking at,” Azhar told the "Conflict of Interest: Analysis and Recommendations on Preventing Political Patronage and Corruption in Malaysia” forum organised by the Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4).

Azhar reiterated that in the past 60 years there has been no proper laws on matters such as treating, bribing and corruption with regards to the election campaign process which makes it difficult to ascertain what is wrong and what is permissible.

"When we talk about elections it’s all about ‘free will’. The question is how free is that free will?” asked Harun.

"If it’s exercised by virtue of corruption, bribery or undue influence than that is not free will. Then comes the interpretation of ‘treating’ which is buying food and drinks for voters. However if it’s done with a view of influencing the vote then that’s considered an offence.

"Unfortunately enforcement has not been there for the past 60 years. The only guidance we have is the recent verdict from the High Court that the Cameron Highlands election was null and void due to bribing,” he said.

A by-election was held for Cameron Highlands on January 26 after an Election Court nullified the victor of Datuk C. Sivarraajh of Barisan Nasional in the 14th general election due to vote-buying.

Azhar also said the offence of treating must be clearly defined.

"As for treating we do not know the width and purview of that section. If treating is done by a third party is that is an offense?

"One thing is clear though. Treating, bribery and corrupt practises affect free will hence making the exercise of that free will un-free.”

Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown also echoed Azhar’s sentiments at the forum.

The British national said unless there is proper transparency in political funding conflicts of interest will continue to thrive.

"Over concentration of power leads to corruption. For example what happened in East Malaysia where the chief minister, economic minister and resources minister were controlling well over half the budget of the state,” said Rewcastle-Brown.

"The chief minister was able to do this because there was over concentration of power to a few people. They then distributed all the concessions, contracts and bounties of government into the hands of his own family or front companies or cronies.

"How did he cover all this up? Lack of transparency.”

Rewcastle-Brown explained how she was able to expose a lot of the wrongdoings by checking public documents.

"By looking at the land register I was able to see what companies had been handed the government contracts and concessions and they were nearly always associated with his family,” she said.

"It’s these sort of things need to be addressed and Malaysia is going to teach the world an awful lot on how to deal with institutions and international finance systems that facilitated these illegal practices.”