He said although this was already a long-standing practice of several political parties, such as MCA and Umno, it should be expressly stated in the government-proposed political financing law.
This is to allow such operations to be better regulated and, at the same time, discourage parties from having to rely on political donations, he added.
“The government should allow this as it was allowed by (former prime ministers) Tunku Abdul Rahman and Abdul Razak Hussein.
“However, the competition must be fair. There must be a code of ethics and we should not take advantage of it.”
Kadir was speaking at a press conference after a joint meeting with PAS and the National Consultative Committee on Political Financing (JKNMPP) at the Malaysian Integrity Institute here today.
Present was PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
Kadir also suggested that companies owned by political parties be registered with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Inland Revenue Board and the Registrar of Societies.
“If a company is registered under a party to fund expenses, it should be allowed tax exemptions. For example, zero tax, or a nominal tax of 10%.”
He also criticised the committee’s proposal to remove the election spending cap of RM200,000 for parliamentary seats and RM100,000 for state seats.
This, he said, would give an unfair advantage to the “rich parties”.
Kadir and Tuan Ibrahim also called on JKNMPP to push for an end to money politics, alleging this was the practice of many political leaders, especially during their parties’ internal polls.
“Not just Umno, but also MCA, MIC, PKR and DAP … they all face this problem,” said Kadir.
JKNMPP was formed by the government in August last year following the controversy surrounding the RM2.6 billion donation Prime Minister Najib Razak received from a member of the Saudi royal family.
It was tasked to come up with a proposal for a new law to be called the Political Donation and Expenditure Act.
The proposal called for greater transparency on the part of political parties through a strict requirement of reporting and publishing political donations.