Table Political Funding Act along with anti-hopping law, says Nurul Izzah

KUALA LUMPUR - While the government is in the midst of implementing the anti-hoping law before the 15th General Election (GE15), one opposition MP suggests that it should be tabled together with a Political Funding Act.

Former PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar said this is to lay the groundwork for a fair political scene in the country.

She explained that as long as the matter of political funding were yet to be resolved, certain irresponsible parties such as oligarchs and Approved Permit (AP) holders will continue to lobby for support from elected representatives even after the anti-hopping law has been enacted.

“There are some political parties that have billions of ringgit in funds, but some parties are dependent on crowdfunding.

“So to ensure that the incentives for party hopping to be mitigated, it (the tabling of the anti-hopping law) must be done in tandem with the Political Funding Act,” she said in an exclusive interview with Sinar Premium on Wednesday.

Nurul Izzah explained that a Political Funding Act is important to enable the government to implement policies in favor of the people, without the concern that the policies will be influenced by certain parties who have contributed to an elected representative political campaign.

However, she also acknowledged the efforts to implement such a law will be challenging due to the country's political ecosystem.

“The most important issue is how we plan to detail the contents of the Bill.

“We have to make sure to invite constitutional and financial experts to look at its implementation across the board. There is no such thing as a perfect law.

“We have to think about the impact and effects so as to create a healthy ecosystem to avoid MPs easily being purchased and to ensure an equal playing field for both the government and the opposition.

"We often forget that we need to be grateful for being an elected representative even with the opposition. Without the opposition, the government cannot govern effectively and the people will not receive any benefits if the opposition does not criticise or pressure the government.

Nurul Izzah stated that drafting a Political Funding Act must be done through a parliamentary special select committee as what has been done for the anti-hopping law.