KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Putrajaya is hopeful that a new law regulating political financing will be tabled and put in place before the current government’s term ends.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (JPM) Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said he hopes to have the law tabled in Parliament before the next general election.
“I don’t want to speculate but I believe we are going to present it (the Act) within this term,” he said.
“I believe since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has agreed to it, it will be much easier to present,” responded Mohamed Hanipa when asked if the new law would be tabled before the Sarawak state election, which is slated to take place in 2020.
When pressed further for a possible timeline of when the Act can be expected to be tabled, Mohamed Hanipa conceded that it was up to the prime minister.
“Ultimately we have to get the nod from the PM.... we were told we will present it (the Act) but we were not given a time frame,” he said after attending the Anti-Corruption Summit 2018 at Hotel Istana here this evening.
Minister in charge of law in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong had recently announced that more than 100 laws were being looked at, with a new law regulating political fundings to be formulated.
Hanipa explained that for the new Act to be tabled, many pending processes must be completed first.
“This is still in the stage if discussion, where to enact it we need to present a paper to the Cabinet first, and we have to seek advice from many departments.
“So now in principle we have agreed to have this legislation, but details have not been discussed yet,” he said.
Mohamed Hanipa also revealed during the summit the government is currently looking at the German model of regulations surrounding political financing.
“There are many models, but I think the German model is the top priority.
“I am not sure if we will visit Germany, but the PM has spoken about it several times.”
