Universiti Malaya professor Terence Gomez, who specialises in political economy, said money politics in the nation was a scourge and it was crucial to put measures in place to curb it.
He claimed the 2013 election was a deeply “monetised” election, even for the opposition parties.
“Where is the money coming from?” he asked during a forum here.
The forum, organised by Bersih, was held after the launch of their “Satukan Tenaga, Kalahkan Penipuan” (Reform Through the Ballot Box) campaign at the Civic Centre here.
Gomez said the G25 movement of former top civil servants and 17 non-governmental organisations had come up with a full set of resolutions on political financing.
“We sent it to the prime minister and the opposition. There was no response from both sides,” said Gomez.
“Where is the money coming from for the elections? My question is to both sides.
“It is our right to know who is funding the politicians.”
Gomez said there must be ways to end the questions surrounding political financing that was ongoing between civil society and politicians.
“Politicians are not listening; they don’t want to. That is a scary thought.
“If we don’t know who is funding our politicians, how would we know that public policies will be in the interest of the people and not in the interest of the funders?”
In December, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) had expressed disappointment that the government had yet to pass a law that would regulate political financing in the country.
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 of 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, 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.
The Act was tabled with 32 recommendations by the National Consultative Committee on Political Financing, which did not include any political parties.
It had included creating a Controller’s Office to monitor political donations and expenditure. Low had chaired the committee.
The recommendations also include for political parties to declare contributions above RM3,000 to the Controller, with full disclosure of donor identity to the public to be made compulsory before the 15th general election.
It banned foreign funding and barred state-owned enterprises and companies receiving government contracts from contributing to politicians or political parties.