Political Funding Bill must be discussed thoroughly to avoid flip-flops, says Hamzah

KAJANG: Mechanisms to put the Political Funding Bill in place must be discussed thoroughly to ensure the law is effective, says Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (pic).

The Home Minister said it is important to get it right to avoid any flip-flops.

“A special team must discuss the matter in detail to ensure that the law can always be used.

“The policy is good but we must make sure its implementation is beneficial as well,” he told a press conference after launching the National Anti-Drug Agency’s Mobile Recovery Treatment service on Friday (May 20).

Hamzah, who attended a meeting of the Cabinet Special Committee on Anti-Corruption, said the Bill was discussed at length.

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He had been asked to comment on the decision to introduce the Political Funding Bill.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Special Committee had agreed for the Bill to be put in place to prevent corruption and abuse of power among politicians.

He said the matter would be brought to the attention of the Cabinet for further discussion before engagement is carried out with political parties.

“This law is important because we want to avoid corruption and power abuse among politicians, which is detrimental to the country’s and government’s image,” he said.

Ismail Sabri, who chaired the meeting, said the scope for the Bill would be presented to the Cabinet soon.

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In 2019, then minister in the prime minister’s department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said the government would table the Bill, which would focus on the regulatory aspect of political contributions.

Recently, the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board made several suggestions to the Special Committee, including enhancing laws to regulate political funding.