Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) director Cynthia Gabriel said the NGOs had been working for six to seven months on good governance agendas for political parties to commit to before GE14.
The demands, she said, comprised five points topped by public access to information.
“This is a fundamental issue that is stifled by the Official Secrets Act. This overwhelms everything in terms of government information.
“We need access to information to become informed citizens. We want PH to commit to enacting a federal freedom of information law,” she said during a press conference at the PPBM headquarters here.
The second point on the list was making it compulsory for politicians to declare their assets before taking public office, she said.
“This is something very pertinent to make politicians more accountable to the public.
“They must declare their assets upon forming the government. We are not demanding that they do so before that.
“There’s nothing wrong in being rich but we want to make sure you do not get rich on public funds.”
The third demand, elaborated by Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) researcher Aira Azhari, was to make the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers independent institutions.
“Our proposal is to make MACC a constitutional body with the power to hire and fire.
“The AGC, on the other hand, needs a very fundamental reform as the position now is that the AG and the public prosecutor are fused as one person which is a conflict of interest.
“We also want the Whistleblower Act and Witness Protection Act to be strengthened, to allow a whistleblower to reveal proof to an investigative journalist besides the police or MACC,” she said.
Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) exco member Chew Phye Keat, speaking on the fourth demand, said civil society wanted the new government to commit to participatory democracy.
“Social norms have changed and the idea of participatory democracy is desired by society at large.
“We want to participate in some of the government’s processes. We want a say on issues that are close to us.
“We want a public consultation process so we will know how things are done – procedures that affect the people, and new laws that come into play.
“We want transparency in budgeting so we can see how money is spent as well as a visible government procurement process.”
Chew said participatory democracy also required the reinstatement of local council elections.
He said the time had come to let people vote directly for those in charge of making local government decisions.
The last demand by the NGOs was to have a law to regulate political funding.
Chew said a political funding law would require disclosure to make politicians accountable for the money they get.
They also wanted restrictions placed on how government-linked companies were used to secure funding.
PPBM Supreme Council member Rais Hussin, in welcoming the demands, said the list should have already been enacted into law.
“PPBM stands for reform and justice, so when we hear this list, it’s music to our ears as it’s the very same things we are fighting for.
“Political funding is also included in our manifesto that will be revealed on March 8,” he said.