A new law, the Political Donations and Expenditure Act, has been proposed by the National Consultative Committee On Political Funding.

Najib, who is also prime minister, said proposals to control political funding were “nothing new” and had been suggested by Umno and Barisan Nasional even before the 2013 general election to create a more transparent method of political funding.

“Although the BN had agreed at that time, the opposition did not agree on the method we wanted to propose…so, we could not implement it. It’s not fair if the new regulation is imposed only on the BN,” he said yesterday, Bernama reported.

Speaking to reporters after chairing the Umno Supreme Council meeting here, he said: “So, in principle, we agree and need to support the new method which must be supported by both sides (the government and opposition).”

The proposed new law is among 32 proposals by the National Consultative Committee to improve integrity and political funding.

The committee’s chairman, integrity minister Paul Low Seng Kuan, was reported as saying that the proposal would be brought up to the Cabinet within the next two weeks before being presented to Parliament for debate and approval.

Najib added that the details on the act could be discussed at length between the government and the opposition.

“There are some that we agree on, some we may have to make adjustments, but the principle on the need for a new political funding method is supported by Umno and the BN,” he said, Bernama reported.