DAP: New laws on political donations open to abuse

Political-Donations-and-Expenditure-Act-(PDEA) PETALING JAYA: A DAP lawmaker has voiced his concern that there are no guarantees that the proposed Political Donations and Expenditure Act (PDEA) and the “Office of the Controller of Political Donations and Expenditure” will not be abused.

Citing the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Election Commission (EC) as examples, Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming said laws that are meant to be democratic and institutions which are supposed to be independent have instead been used to benefit the Barisan Nasional (BN).

“The current political climate makes it very difficult for opposition parties and politicians to trust that the BN government will not implement or modify these recommendations in a selective and biased manner that is in its favour and which is detrimental to opposition parties and the practice of democracy here in Malaysia,” Ong said in reference to the recommendations proposed by the Consultative Committee on Political Financing (CCPF) last week.

He made particular reference to the Controller having the power to audit accounts of politicians and political parties pertaining to political financing and contributions.

“This Controller also has the power to confiscate donations if they are suspected to be from ‘dubious’ sources.

“So, similar to how the EC seems to have shown its bias in the recently proposed delineation exercise, we have no assurances that when the pressure is put on this Controller, he or she will not buckle to the needs of the BN leadership, as well,” Ong said in a statement released today.

Aside from the post legislation risks mentioned above, Ong also noted that there was nothing to prevent the BN from selectively implementing or modifying the recommendations of the CCPF, in such a way as to enhance its own powers, thereby placing greater pressure on opposition parties and its supporters.

On the recommendation to not have any caps or limits on the amount that can be donated to political parties or even to individual politicians, Ong said it would just make the political landscape during elections even more unfair.

“Together with the lack of limit on spending by political parties and candidates, these two recomendations tilt an already uneven playing field even more in favour of BN,” he said.

He also noted that a recommendation made in the report by the CCPF for state-owner enterprises to be banned from making direct, indirect or in-kind contributions to politicians or political parties, was not necessary.

“There is no need to legislate this specifically, because all that is needed is for a directive to be issued by the Prime Minister and the different heads of state governments.”

On a final note, Ong felt that the CCPF could have done better by making a recommendation for public disclosure of assets by politicians, especially those holding government office.