KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — The Political Funding Bill and Political Funding Transparency Act must be implemented before the 15th general election, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin said today.
The PKR lawmaker said the recent passing of the anti-party hopping Bill must be seen as proof of voters' hunger for change, which must be continued with the political funding Bill.
"Malaysia must restore the people's confidence in the political system and our country's leadership before GE15," he told a press conference in support of the bill.
This comes after the Umno-led political party Barisan Nasional also backed the political funding Bill to be tabled for the first reading before the next general election.
On Monday, BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir said the Bill is one of BN's commitments as the coalition has proposed it before GE14 to determine issues related to accountability and transparency in terms of money movement.
"The court case involving former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's political contribution by Ultra Kinrara Sdn Bhd (UKSB) has revealed the ledger of political contributions of the big political figures in the country. The revelations were very surprising because a total of 12 political figures have been revealed," Sim said today,
"If this happens in another country, it will certainly shake the country and cause an overthrow of the government. But in Malaysia, we don't see any action from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission or the police. It is business as usual. Malaysians seemed to have given up on these corrupt cases."
"Last week, Parliament successfully implemented the groundbreaking anti-party hopping bill. This proves that if the people want change, then change can happen," the Bayan Baru MP added.
The calls for a political funding Bill came after the news that then-prime minister Najib Razak received an RM2.99 billion political donation in his personal account.
The proposed legislation on political funding is long overdue and would regulate how parties and politicians receive and use money by disclosing their source of funding and donations.
