He said this was achievable especially when ruling parties were not in a dominant position as they could be persuaded to concede and accede to reforms.

“Let’s say Umno or BN comes to power in the next general election and they are not in a dominant position … in fact, their position can be similar to what it is right now. Then we have to start looking at MoUs or confidence and supply agreements as a new norm for politics in this country,” he said at a conference on political financing.

Fann said ruling parties may need to negotiate with opposition parties through these MoUs or confidence and supply agreements to remain in power and form a stable and functioning government.

“In such a situation, even a party like Umno could be persuaded to concede and accede to this particular funding reform,” he said.

He was referring to Bersih’s recommendation for public funding to be based on voter-share with a minimum of 2% threshold.

The recommendation was part of three recommendations published in a commissioned report by Bersih last year.

The conference on political financing was organised by IDEAS and the Malaysian Bar Council.