The Pontian MP said the failure to enact such a legislation had led to him being charged by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for failing to declare in his 2013 tax returns RM2 million he allegedly received from Najib Razak.
“I was accused of receiving an amount of money and not paying taxes. That’s why I wasn’t included in the Cabinet lists,” he said during a forum organised by Sinar Harian last night.
“Why did I become the victim? Because we did not have a political funding act. If we had such an act, it would state that we cannot receive any funds from abroad and it would be clear that I could not receive the money.”
Ahmad, who was Najib’s deputy finance minister, said the RM2.6 billion linked to 1MDB had already been returned and that the matter had already been explained in court by the former prime minister.
“The political funds were received from the Saudi Arabian government and this was confirmed by the then MACC chief commissioner and other top officers as well as AmBank.
“These were all political funds and were given to 80 individuals, including me,” he said.
A strong proponent of enacting legislation on political funding, Ahmad said the Barisan Nasional (BN) government had been planning to table such a bill since 2009, but the effort was halted momentarily before it was resumed in 2016.
Eventually, a national committee was formed and it submitted a report in 2016. It made 32 recommendations, including tabling a Political Donations and Expenditure Act (PDEA).
“However, it was not tabled in Parliament. The secretariat was the Malaysian Institute of Integrity.”
He claimed that the opposition was against the bill as they were concerned that their backers would be “targeted” by the government if their names were disclosed.
Ahmad, who is said to be in line to become the new deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker, proposed that a special parliamentary committee be formed to revive this bill.
“I fully support (enacting this bill) but it needs to be studied closely.
“For example, what if the money comes from public or private funds? What if the funding comes in the form of goods?”