TI-M president Akhbar Satar said it appeared that there was no political will to do so.
“TI-M is disappointed that the proposed bill for the Political Donations and Expenditure Act (PDEA) which the committee proposed to comprise all aspects on political donations and its administration; their expenditures; state funding of political activities and regulating the relationship between politics and business will not be tabled before the next general election which is due by next June as announced by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low.
“It seems that there is no sincere political will from all political parties to fully support and adopt the PDEA,” he said, adding that it had been “only lip service so far”.
Akhbar said if approved by Parliament, the proposed bill would allow political parties to be more transparent on matters such as political spending and business dealings.
It would also allow the public to judge for themselves the integrity of parties’ reports on their political financing, and curb money politics, particularly during by-elections and general elections.
In a statement, Akhbar said the government had failed to regulate political party funding for nearly a decade now, since the inception of the National Transformation Programme in 2009.
“The prime minister in August 2015 announced the formation of the National Consultative Committee on Political Funding, and TI-M strongly supported recommendations to prevent bribery, corruption and money laundering in our electoral system.
“TI-M believes that having a set of laws to regulate political funding will improve the country’s image in terms of transparency, integrity and accountability. Openness in politics is also vital to a healthy democracy.”
He said election campaigns were becoming increasingly expensive, and politicians required large sums of money to run them.
“This raises serious integrity concerns. Effective campaign financing enforcement is also necessary to monitor and enforce the political financing regulations.”
Akhbar called for an immediate resolution to the regulation of political funding, saying the people were frustrated with the current scenario and the lack of political will to address it.
“It must be resolved now for greater transparency in the electoral system and the sake of the nation,” he said.