Liberal Democratic Party president Chin Su Phin said the absence of such a law gave rise to grey areas as to what constitutes legitimate political financing.
Chin said the alleged mining scandal in Sabah exemplified the need for such a legislation to close any loopholes that businesses could exploit in hopes of seeking favours from politicians, The Borneo Post reported.
Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) information chief Annuar Ghani agreed, saying there was a need for clear legal provisions that outline the definition of political funding.
He said large sums of money being handed to politicians did not automatically constitute a corruption offence under current laws as one could say they were meant to be political donations.
“Due to the absence of a political financing Act, there is no clear regulation defining legitimate political finance.
“In court, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the recipient of a donation was in a position to grant favours or benefits to the donor for it to be classified as a bribe,” said Annuar, a lawyer by training.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) previously said a lack of information had made it difficult for the agency to carry out a thorough investigation into the scandal.
In January, MACC said it had completed its probe into the scandal’s purported whistleblower and a former CEO of a company linked to the alleged scandal, with the investigation paper submitted to the deputy public prosecutor.
Chief minister Hajiji Noor reportedly refused to approve mining prospecting licences to the whistleblower-businessman linked to the scandal.
Annuar lauded Hajiji’s decisive action, saying this ensured the protection of Sabah’s natural resources while preventing a monopoly on the state’s mining industry.
On the other hand, Chin believes that GRS assemblymen implicated in the scandal would be proven innocent since none of the mining prospecting licences was approved by the state government.
Separately, Kiulu Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah deputy chief George Teo suggested that Putrajaya introduce donation limits and bar anonymous donations under the bill.
MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki had also called for the political financing law to be expedited, with an initial focus on regulating election campaign funding.
Last month, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said it would be difficult to pass the political financing bill before the next general election as feedback from stakeholders were still required on many of the bill’s aspects.