COMMENT Money is the political resource that matters most. A politician from California once said that “money is the mother’s milk of politics”.

Our former prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said in 2007: “There can be no escaping that without money you just cannot move.”

In 2010, an Agenda of Reform for political financing was submitted to the government.

I was a member of the team that prepared this agenda, which has 20 recommendations that were based on research as well as on consultations with government agencies, NGOs and academicians.

Prime Minster Najib Abdul Razak strongly supported reforms in political financing in this country and his office facilitated meetings with NGOs on reforming political financing with various agencies.

It has been five years since various agencies, such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Election Commission (EC) and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) indicated willingness to reform political financing in our country.

What is holding back the much needed reforms to eliminate the monetisation of politics in Malaysia?

The key areas that need to be reformed before we can de-link money from politics are the EC, legislative changes and media reforms.

But the truth is that all these reforms face a major challenge, that is, no political party in Malaysia is keen for legislation on political financing. A trust deficit exists between the political parties, including within their own coalitions.

The major change needed is legislation requiring disclosure on sources of funding for electoral campaigns of political parties and candidates.

Opposition political parties in Malaysia have often indicated reluctance to disclose sources of their funding, particularly for electoral campaigns as they fear victimisation of their donors.

Doubts about independence of Election Commission

Perhaps this is a legitimate fear, given the doubts about the independence of the EC?

As long as there is a distrust of the independence of the EC,  a key institution that governs and regulates political parties, political parties are not likely to disclose who their donors are.

A Political Parties Act is a potential tool to curb money politics. Currently, the Societies Act governs the functions of political parties. The lens of the Registrar of Societies focuses on entertainment clubs and NGOs and less on political parties.

Mature democracies such as South Korea enacted a Political Parties Act in 1957.

A civil society that is weak in policy and legislative advocacy and issues such as political financing is a critical factor why reforms on political financing have not materialised in our country.

Media ownership is another factor that has impeded reforms to the monetisation of politics. As long as media ownership is held by political parties, political financing reforms will remain a distant dream.

Laws are urgently needed to limit state and partisan control of the media and to ensure accountability of political parties.

And, finally, to quote former Thai prime minister Anand Panyarachun: “Political accountability must be demonstrated and internalised before reforms can be achieved.”

JOSIE FERNANDEZ, an Asian Public Intellectual Fellow, has researched and written on issues related to political financing.