Rafidah: It’s a fallacy that political funding not needed
Former Wanita Umno chief says it costs money to keep the election machinery running and the decision to declare a party’s political funding is a matter of integrity.
(Free Malaysia Today) – It is a downright fallacy that parties can run efficiently without some form of political funding, said former Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz as funds were needed to keep the election machinery running.
“We need the money because you can’t pluck money from trees,” the former minister said, explaining that funds were needed for the purchase of campaign paraphernalia such as flags and to maintain the campaign operations room during an election.
She said however that the decision to declare or not the political funding of one’s party was really a matter of integrity and that proper mechanisms were needed to ensure that all political funds received were pledged in a transparent manner.
“It all boils down to integrity, whether you want to declare (a party’s political funding) or not.
“Of course people are talking about it now. (But) it’s better late than never, the mechanisms are all there,” she said during a Q&A session at the “Staying Ahead in the 21st Century” talk at a private university here today.
The issue of political funding became a hot topic ever since international news agency The Wall Street Journal ran an exposé in July last year, alleging that RM2.6 billion had been channelled into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts.
The report further claimed the money had come from state investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) although Najib revealed later it was a donation pledged by “someone from the Middle-East” to help him and Barisan Nasional win the last general election.
Soon after this controversy, Najib announced a plan to regulate political funding for the next general election, a proposal that was roundly rejected by the Opposition.