KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — The Election Commission (EC) has no power to investigate any political party’s election spending, its chairman reiterated today.

Datuk Seri Mohd Hashim Abdullah added that the EC’s authority is limited and that it can only scrutinise how much individual candidates spent on their campaigning, after DAP lawmakers Teo Kok Seong and Ng Wei Aik demanded an investigation into claims the Barisan Nasional (BN) had purported used RM1.5 billion in the last general elections.

“As mentioned before, if it involves a political party, the EC has no power to conduct an investigation. The powers of the EC is only over the candidate and only during the campaigning period,” Mohd Hashim said in a statement.

“How much is raised by a party member to contribute to election expenditure is the party’s own affairs, and it is not appropriate for the EC to be associated with this because a registered party’s spending is under the Societies Act and others, and not under the election laws,” he added.

Rasah MP Teo and Tanjong MP Ng had handed a report on Monday, urging the EC to investigate based on reported statements by former Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir and Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron on the spending.

The duo also urged for action to be taken against all elected BN candidates who took part in GE13.

Mohd Hashim added that similar issues have been raised before by opposition party PKR, which the High Court had ruled in the EC’s favour, finding the commission free of fault in conducting GE13.

In an interview with Malay Mail Online last month, Mohd Hashim noted that there is currently no specific law on political financing in Malaysia save for the Election Offences Act 1954, which stipulates that candidates contesting in any election must declare their campaign expenses.

Section 19 of same Act puts a cap on how much individual candidates can spend during campaigning, with a RM100,000 limit for those contesting state seats and RM200,000 for candidates contesting parliamentary seats. The section does not mention spending caps on political parties.

He said for the EC to monitor the source of funding for political parties or excess expenditure by parties during campaigns, legal amendments would first be necessary or the enactment of a special law.