Amid allegations that Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) election funds were partially sourced from gambling companies, the Muhyiddin Yassin-led coalition said it will not disclose the funds it received.
Its deputy Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said it is not the practice of political parties to make their funding public.
“We will not be presenting the list. No political parties have done that (present a list of funds received) before,” he added….
However, he said PN is open to debating the political funding bill in Parliament.
“If that’s among the main issues, then go ahead. As an MP, I, too, call for this.
“It was supposed to be solved during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s tenure (as prime minister) but Parliament had already been dissolved, so there was no time for that
So, let’s be clear. PN are totally in favour of reforming the political funding laws in Malaysia in order to adopt the basic levels of transparency expected in a democracy (as already enacted in other countries across the globe).
In fact, they were going to do it when they had a chance in government but never got around to it because they decided to call a snap election instead, presumably because they reckoned they could somehow pull off an early election win.
We all know what happened next. PN displayed the most enormous level of funds throughout the election campaign, of the sort that used to win elections when its elderly leaders like Moo first learnt their craft. However this time it didn’t work.
So, everyone is now asking where on earth did all that money come from in the hands of a party which has had its hands on the levers of power during a state of emergency for eighteen months, where all systems of accountability were conveniently shelved and Parliament shut down?
The new PM/FM has confirmed improprieties took place regarding the handling of RM600 billion of public money during that period which he will investigate. He has also suggested PN (dominated by the ‘religious’ folk from PAS) received election money from gambling interests.
Yesterday, a stash of papers sadly caught fire in the rubbish area behind the MOF.
Now, whilst furiously denying any improprieties or income from gambling outfits and at the same time saying it is fully in favour of reform and transparency, PN are refusing to open their accounts…. because so far it’s not the law?
Why don’t these clerics and their side-kicks start to lead by example and stop telling the rest of us to believe them holy just because they say so?