Whilst, the freedom of expression and opinion are respected... I do have some concerns with regard the recent Joint Statement issued by some 69 groups...
Political Parties Act (PPA) - do we really need another Act of Parliament - remembering always that the government of the day can always easily abuse such a law to stay in power...and act against any Opposition political parties... Preferential application of the law by those in power is something that we are seeing now in this case involving our Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak? If it was any other small civil servant, they would have long been called in for investigation purposes - but have the police or the MACC even questioned and taken a statement from the PM yet?
Corruption involving a public servant ..a public official; that is what should be investigated and settled first? Of course, the story some are alleging is that our PM received in on behalf of UMNO (or was it really BN?) or was it really for Malaysia?
Can or should PM Najib be investigated and/or charged for corruption? What does the law say? - Just an opinion
Bar says not the time to indulge in side issues - investigate corruption allegation against Najib first?
Clear PM Najib of corruption first - then look at 'political funding', 'election spending', etc?
Parti Rakyat Malaysia(PRM) wants to know status of investigation of PM's corruption case?
By talking about 'political funding', have we not been played or distracted from the real issues? PKR fell into this trap when they filed that civil suit about GE13 spending, etc...and here again, others are also being distracted by what really are and should be 'side issues'?
Now, the concern about this RM2.6 billion is that it was received by our Prime Minister in his personal account. If UMNO or BN received the money, it is different - but really has UMNO or BN even officially come out and stated the said money was theirs - and they were OK with the money being paid directly to Najib, the President of UMNO (and the leader of BN)? I do not remember any such report...I may be wrong here.
Who was that RM2.6 billion for? If it was for Malaysia, the money received should have immediately transferred to the government.Zahid claimed the donation was made among others as a token of appreciation for Malaysia's purported counter terrorism efforts. ..."They want Umno and BN to continue ruling the country," Zahid told...
'Malaysia is not the only country we are channelling our money to. There are many more friendly Muslim countries who we are donating to.' - see Zahid Hamidi should not have met 'alleged donors'- 'interference with on-going investigation'?
If it was for the BN ruling parties - then all the BN parties, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, etc , naturally deserves their respective shares. Remember the party that won the most number of seats in the last General Elections was Barisan Nasional - not UMNO, MCA, MIC... All the BN component parties stood as BN - and on the ballot paper, we voted for the BN symbol, the 'dacing'. Ruling the country now is BN - not UMNO, even if it was many UMNO members running under the BN ticket that won.So, if the money was to ensure that the same coalition continues ruling Malaysia, naturally the money is for BN.
Legislation proposed also to cover ' Internal political party elections'
Societies and even trade unions are already too controlled by the government. Now, societies need the approval of the Registrar of Societies before an amendment to the constitution which has been passed by AGM of members come into effect. Trade Unions also cannot even increase their membership fees - because the Resgistrar says 'No'.Members even have no right to chose the name of their own society - it must be approved by the Registrar of Societies.
Members of any society, trade union and political party to have the full freedom to make their own decisions - save for something that is specifically not permitted in law.
..And here we have a proposal to grant more powers to the 'government' to regulate our 'political parties'? This is absurd - members of the relevant society can always take the necessary action as provided for in the relevant organization's constitution, if not take up the matter to court. If the members decide it is OK to use money to buy votes for their own party election, why should non-members or even the government bother? Remember, the courts can be powerful - after all they once made UMNO illegal. If any member of any society, trade union or political party does something against the laws of the organisation, there may be internal avenues to deal with this, or alternatively the matter can be taken to court.
What happens within any society or trade unions or political party should be in accordance with what it members want - no need for any more Acts of Parliament or subsidiary legislations to create restrictions...offences...etc that impede our freedom of association. We want real freedom of association...not a 'freedom' limited by national laws.
Limits and Sources of Funds
We may need transparency - an obligation to disclose to members of the public sources of funds, especially large amounts...but this would be for public servants - not for political parties, or maybe also for political parties who are in government - because of the possibility of indirect 'corruption'
Unlike the BN parties, and maybe now some Opposition parties, other political parties are struggling financially...and why should they not be receiving funds from inside or outside the country to carry out certain activities?
Disclosure of donors is a major concern. Why? Many people have the perspective that our government tend to 'discriminate' against supporters of Opposition parties - A requirement for full disclosure would mean that Malaysian individuals will just be deterred from making financial contributions to Opposition parties - people worry about their government jobs, their chances of getting scholarship for their children, the possibility of being discriminated in terms of government related business and contracts, etc.. That fear is very real...and it may have a negative impact on many Opposition parties - maybe not so much the bigger parties..Many Malaysians choose not to join Opposition parties for the very same reason - but election results show that these parties really do have massive support.
The REAL ISSUES that we should focus on
1 - Corruption and Public Servant, and this includes Prime Minister, Ministers, MPs, Senators and State Assembly Persons. When it comes to politicians(or political parties) not in power, corruption generally will not even be an issue of concern for Malaysians. Public servants is a concern - because we do not want them to be 'bribed' in any way that may affect their decisions when it comes to governing the country, the State or even the Local Authorities. For this, I believe, there are sufficient laws already - the problem now seems to be possible 'discrimination' in the application of the law, because the task of application of these laws rest with departments/agencies/Ministries that come under the direct authority or influence of the government itself. Remember, even if prosecuted, some people with powerful political and other ties, seem to get away. When prosecution fails, because material witnesses were not called...or material questions were not asked - we are all worried. Was it simply incompetence ..or was it something else that we do not want in Malaysia?
Najib's and BN's commitment to anti-corruption question - looking back at Eric Chia and Kasitah Kadam's judgments
2 - Accountability and transparency of government-owned (or State owned) or government-linked private businesses and companies > Now, the formation of these 'private companies' is simply a way of avoiding being accountable to Parliament and the people. Now, even the Auditor General should include such companies in their annual audits ... Why? They belong to Malaysians - and we do not want these companies donating to certain politicians or political party, or doing any 'hank-panky'. We have been looking at 1MDB and MAS - but really our focus must also be the State Governments - because they too are moving in the same direction.
3 - How much a political party has or makes is not the issue - BUT how much it spends during an election is a matter of concern. There are fixed limits for election spending - and the reason behind this, I believe, is to ensure a fairer playing field for all candidates and political parties. This 'fairer playing field' principle also needs to start governing areas like 'media time' and 'media space' - where currently there seems to a bias. [With regards the media, the principle of fairness really should apply at all times - not just during the Election Period. Speaking of media, there should be a right for any person/entity to get printing and publishing permits, have a radio station, TV station - now even the Opposition States cannot have their own radio station; These controls should not exist in a democracy..] - well, the limit on election spending is already provided in law > maybe there is a need for amendments to this law to provide greater clarification. Maybe, also the law need to be amended with regard to 'media space' and also the 'freedom of peaceful assembly'.
4 - When it comes to 'public listed' companies - they too, should not spending money on politicians and political parties directly or indirectly, unless it is with the full approval of its shareholders, and is publicly disclosed. Private companies/businesses, not being GLCs or public listed companies, - well that depends on their own shareholders... Maybe we need a new law that governs GLCs - a business is suppose to do business properly, and we Malaysians are the beneficiaries when it concerns government-owned or linked company. It is absurd if these companies are paying out money or making 'donations' to some politician or political party.
5 - The Companies and Business's Laws need to be amended maybe requiring full disclosure of any monies paid out to government, PM, Ministers, Public Servants, MPs, ADUNs. Senators, etc - why because they may be 'bribes' - and corruption of public servants is wrong in law. It also will enable us to determine whether there was 'corruption' - and it becomes obvious if they are suddenly getting projects/contracts, etc..Disclosure also of the CSR projects - donations, locations, etc > worry is that this may really be for the benefit of some politician, constituency of the said politician, some political party. CSR projects for the community is for that community - and it should not be seen as benefiting any politician's interest.
As I mentioned earlier, this is but my opinion, and it is for all to consider. There are elements in this Joint Statement that should be of concern.
Knee-jerk reactions to current happenings are dangerous if we do not consider everything, including the impact to future Malaysia...
G25, 68 NGOs join forces for reforms amid RM2.6bil scandal
A group of 69 NGOs in a joint-statement today outlined the reforms needed for political funding to promote transparency and accountability.
This
is amid the presence of RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Najib Abdul
Razak's personal bank accounts, which his supporters claim is not
corruption but a "political donation".
The statement, titled "Declaration
on transparent and accountable political funding as the underlying
framework to eliminate corruption and promote clean governance" is as follows:
We,
concerned citizens of Malaysia from the following NGOs and CSOs,
recognise the urgent need for reforms of existing laws governing
political funding and all manner of corrupt practices.
Eliminating
corruption within political parties is fundamental to enable the total
rejection of corrupt practices and to allow for the return of a clean
government in Malaysia.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has
acknowledged the existence of “donations” from foreign sources to run
election campaigns effectively.
Our concern with the prime
minister’s statement is his acknowledgement of two issues that have long
been viewed as controversial aspects of the financing of Malaysian
politics: First, the existence of secret political funds controlled by
individuals or trustees; and second, access to phenomenal foreign
funding, which suggests illegal political financing during electoral
contests that undermine the legitimacy of parties in power.
Our core concern is the need for an independent investigation into allegations of serious misappropriation of 1MDB funds.
This investigation should be completed promptly and in a transparent and accountable manner.
Meanwhile,
given the statements made by the prime minister, we also believe that
it is imperative to reform existing laws on key aspects of the financing
of politics to reinstitute integrity in Malaysia’s electoral system.
The
current mode of political funding has cascaded into pervasive
rent-seeking practices within the administration, evidenced in
interferences with licensing and payments for securing business
approvals as well as partnerships with dormant but politically-linked
partners.
Investments cannot proceed without championing by politically-connected individuals.
The
mushrooming of a culture of poor accountability, lack of integrity and
disrespect for the public and for voters’ expectations of probity and
openness has now reached levels that are damaging to investor confidence
and leading to economic decadence.
Lack of transparency and the
covert nature of political contributions put corporations at a
disadvantage, as they are unable to account for these expenditures on
their balance sheets.
The practice by companies of using funds as
CSRs (corporate social responsibility) to support political parties
results in misinformation to shareholders and may be subject to abuse.
Political
funding is closely related to corrupt practices. There is a need to
combat corruption and other irregularities in political funding and to
establish a clean government. Maqasid Shariah says that the government
must be clean to earn the trust of the people.
Moderation in Islam
can triumph over extremism when those in power are made accountable for
their actions. Similar callings for justice, as well as accountable and
trustworthy governance, are found in the teachings of other major
religions.
Reforms to improve standards of governance in Malaysia
are necessary because a government crippled by corruption is a danger to
religion itself.
We believe that political funding reforms are direly needed to:
- Enable fair elections in 2018;
- Ensure politicians can act without fear and favour;
- Empower a new breed of politicians – with fresh ideas who will also limit the incumbency of those in power – to enter the political system; and
- Ensure all political parties have equal access to acceptable financing sources to promote an even playing field in Federal and State elections.
The end result is to return to Malaysia the kind of
parliamentary democracy that is envisaged under the Federal
Constitution, through fair elections which guarantee the democratic
selection of the government.
We, the undersigned, urge the government to urgently follow-up on the following recommendations:
A.
Undertake legislative and institutional reforms to legitimize political
contributions under a transparent and accountable regime:
We welcome the long standing suggestion by the government for the introduction of a Political Parties Act (PPA).
This
PPA will specify the various disclosure requirements and limits on
political contributions from both public and private sources.
It
will define terms such as “contribution” (which includes cash, benefits
in kind such as labour-based services, as well as payments for nominal
consideration such as the right to sit at a particular candidate’s
dinner table) and “associated entities” which could include businesses
owned by political parties and foundations set up in their names.
This
PPA differs from, but will be consistent with, the existing Election
Offences Act 1954 in that the PPA defines elements of legal political
contributions, while the Election Offences Act legislates against
illegal electoral behaviour, including money politics.
The nexus
that could be drawn is that any political contribution which does not
comply with the requirements of the proposed PPA could be ruled as a
transgression under the Election Offences Act.
The proposed PPA should incorporate other key aspects on the financing of politics, including the following:
1. Regulations involving the different forms of elections:
i) Federal and state elections and, in future, local elections; and
ii) Internal political party elections;
2.
Disclosure and reporting of sources of funds on a quarterly basis
during normal times, and on a daily basis during electoral contests with
such reports being made available for public scrutiny;
3.
Balanced public funding of all parties in federal and state elections:
To reduce reliance on private contributions, which makes political
parties more susceptible to wealthy interest groups and to level the
playing field for smaller parties and independent candidates, a
mechanism should be instituted which provides public funding to ALL
parties, regardless of whether they are in government or in the
opposition. Equal and non-discriminatory funding must be given to
federal and state lawmakers for policy research and constituency
development work;
4. Limits on private donations that may be given
by both individuals and corporate bodies, as well as a cap on funds
received from anonymous donors. Capping the quantum of individual
contributions mitigates the risk of policy decisions being dictated by
an elite and forces parties to seek funding from a wider support base.
To address potential evasion of the limit, donations to local branches
of political parties should be treated as contributions to its parent
entity and disclosed/capped accordingly if they exceed the applicable
thresholds;
5. Donations channelled via interposing fund-raising
managers or foundations also must disclose the original donors’
identities rather than be treated as a single sum. Political
contributions are not recommended to be tax-deductible;
6. Ban on
foreign donations as it can interfere with the autonomy and sovereignty
of domestic politics and the basis on which public policies are
promulgated;
7. Ban on secret political funds held by individuals or trustees;
8.
Limits on expenditure during party and general elections. During
federal and state elections, a cap must be placed on the gross amount of
expenditure of each candidate as well as his or her party within a
constituency, at state level and nationally;
9.
Creation of a list of permissible and non-permissible funders/donors.
The latter will include government-linked organisations and companies
privy to public contracts and licences; and
10. Ban on parties
holding power at federal and state levels to launch new development
programmes (from the time Parliament is dissolved as well as throughout
an electoral campaign), including those that involve a transfer of cash,
material goods or benefits in kind that can be construed as
vote-buying.
B. Undertake reforms to ensure the
independence of the Election Commission as well as to empower it to
investigate and prosecute breaches of regulations related to political
funding:
Under the present system, the two major
institutions responsible for monitoring elections and political parties
are the Election Commission (EC) and the Registrar of Societies (ROS).
Political parties are regulated by the Societies Act 1966, which also oversees all welfare and social bodies.
The
EC is responsible for conducting elections, keeping electoral rolls and
reviewing the division of the country into parliamentary and state
constituencies.
We note that, currently, the members of the EC are
appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, based on the recommendations of
the prime minister.
The formation and running of political
parties are overseen by the ROS, which falls under the jurisdiction of
the minister of home affairs.
Under such a system, the executive
arm of government has direct or indirect control over the governance of
political parties and the running of elections, a core factor that has
to be reformed.
We also note that civil society and opposition
parties have persistently voiced little or no confidence in the EC’s
ability to fairly re-delineate state and parliamentary constituencies as
well as ensure free and fair elections.
We call for the
re-constitution of the EC, as a National Election Commission (NEC), to
ensure effective participation of all arms of government, with the
provision that one opposition Member of Parliament must serve in this
institution.
This
body will be responsible for the running of elections, re-delineation
exercises and the enforcement of legislation pertaining to the running
of parties and elections.
This independent body will have the
authority to oversee and file charges against errant politicians who
violate political party, political funding and election laws.
The
independent NEC must be empowered to investigate and prosecute alleged
breaches in election laws, particularly illegal political contributions.
Such
powers are now fragmented amongst the EC, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), hampering
speedy and efficient conduct of investigations.
With such powers,
the NEC can mandate all parties and related entities to submit to it on
an annual basis, all contributions received (in cash and kind) which
exceed a pre-determined amount and the source(s) of these funds or
benefits, be it public or private, and a detailed breakdown of
expenditure towards which the contributions are utilised.
The accounts will be audited by the NEC and made public on its website.
This
will enable the public to scrutinise material sources of political
funding, which could enable identification of potential conflicts of
interests and improves accountability of fund utilisation.
C. Undertake reforms to promote citizens’ right to information and state impartiality:
Political funding reforms are imperative to identify and prevent conflict-of-interest situations, patronage and corruption.
The
financing of political parties by individuals and groups must be
disclosed to ensure that they do not stand to benefit inappropriately
from subsequent public decisions.
For this, freedom of information legislation must be enacted at federal and state levels.
Political funding reforms should strive to create a level playing field during electoral contests.
This is not possible without state impartiality.
For
example, individuals and businesses financing opposition political
parties should not find themselves being targeted by tax, regulatory or
enforcement bodies for investigation.
Such acts undermine the principle of transparency, introduced to level the playing field.
Deliberate
acts by public officials to selectively persecute or harass citizens or
businesses on partisan grounds should be criminalized.
1) Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia
2) Anak Muda Sarawak
3) Angkatan Warga Aman Malaysia
4) Baramkini
5) Bersih Sabah
6) Bersih Sydney
7) Borneo Research Institute
8) Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism
9) Engage
10) Federation of Malaysian Indian Organisations
11) Friends of Kota Damansara
12) G25
13) G40
14) Global Bersih
15) I am #26
16) Islamic Renaissance Front
17) Japan Graduates Association of Malaysia
18) Jaringan Orang Asli SeMalaysia
19) Jaringan Tanah Hak Adat Bangsa Asal Sarawak
20) Jawatankuasa Bertindak Kuala Lumpur Tak Nak Insinerator
21) Jihad for Justice
22) All Women's Action Society
23) Association of Women Lawyers
24) Perak Women for Women's Society
25) Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor
26) Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
27) Sabah Women's Action Resource Group
28) Sisters in Islam
29) Tenaganita
30) Women's Aid Organisation
31) Women's Centre for Change
32) Kumpulan Aktivis Mahasiswa Independen
33) LLG Cultral Development Centre
34) Malasian Indian Progressive Association
35) Malaysian Indians Transformation Action Team
36) Malaysian Youth and Students' Democratic Movement
37) Malaysian Youth Care Association
38) Muslim Professionals Forum
39) National Indian Rights Action Team
40) Negeri Sembilan Chinese Assembly Hall
41) Oriental Hearts and Mind Study Association
42) Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Action Committee
43) People Service Organisation
44) Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara
45) Persatuan Bekas Siswazah Universiti dan Koleh di China, Malaysia
46) Persatuan Kebangsaan Hak Asasi Manusia
47) Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan
48) Persatuan Promosi Hak Asasi Manusia
49) Persatuan Rapat Malaysia
50) Persatuan Siswazah Lihua KL dan Selangor
51) Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia
52) Projek Beres
53) Projek Dialog
54) Pusat Komas
55) Research for Social Advancement
56) Sarawak Access
57) Save Rivers
58) Sabah Partners in Community Organising
59) Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia
60) Suara Rakyat Malaysia
61) Tamil Foundation
62) The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
63) Tindak Malaysia
64) United Chinese School Alumni Associations of Malaysia
65) We Are Malaysians
66) Women Development Organisation of Malaysia PJ Branch
67) Writers' Alliance for Media Freedom
68) Sahabat Rakyat
69) Bersih 2.0
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