In an official release of the preliminary decisions made by the National Committee on Political Funding today, Low said, “Political donations from foreign interest and sources should be prohibited to safeguard against foreign influences on local politics and the sovereignty of the nation.”

Chaired by Low, the National Committee on Political Funding met here on Monday to discuss a “comprehensive and workable agenda” for the reform and regulation of political funding in Malaysia.

The issue of donations from foreign interests has been a much-discussed matter since revelations that Prime Minister Najib Razak had allegedly received RM2.6 billion in donations from Saudi interests.

“The committee is of the opinion that allocation of funds to support service centres merits consideration, and that such financial support is essential to empower each elected representative to serve his/her constituency more effectively,” said Low.

Among the other preliminary decisions the committee arrived at included limits on donations made by corporations/individuals and from anonymous parties.

“Anonymous donations are allowed for amounts not exceeding RM1,000. This is specifically to facilitate crowdfunding initiatives through the Internet,” said the committee.

However, the committee added that it was “not necessary to impose any limit on private funding from corporations and individuals”, possibly indicating a difference between long-term funding and one-time donations.

The committee also said that separate bank accounts were required for political donations to allow all receipts and expenditures to be verified by an independent auditor appointed by a “controller”, the controller in question being specified by the appropriate Act.

Low said the committee was currently analysing similar practices in Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia to set a benchmark for Malaysia to eventually introduce its own set of regulations.