By Niza Shimi
It’s not often that a writer’s words can be so palpable that it grabs attention. The Letter to the Editor written by social activist and director of SUARAM Kua Kia Soong had that effect on me.
The letter published by Free Malaysia Today (FMT) on October 6, 2022, is a no holds barred lament about Malaysian politics. Perhaps it is an excerpt from his book, The Malaysian Dilemma: My Memoir & Manifesto but I haven't read it.
No stranger to political commentary, there's some kind of heartfelt anguish in this letter as Kua writes with conviction. His lament is for the 15th general elections (GE15) to be held on November 19, 2022.
Kua writes, “The conundrum we face in GE15 is that we are being asked to choose between two political coalitions which have proven to be equally disappointing. This is the biggest political dilemma confronting the nation today."
Many find themselves in this predicament whether they agree with him or not. Will they come out to vote or turn their backs and refuse to participate in the democratic process? I can relate because I was so fed up with the political situation in the country for GE14 that I didn't vote. I still feel guilty about it.
For me, Kua raised some points that others don’t want to address. In the din of people repeating and blaming one side or the other for the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government, Kua provides rational discussion.
On the topic of political funding he writes, “We have seen dubious sources of funding in general elections for years in Malaysia, especially since the reign of Mahathir in 1981.
“The 1MDB scandal is basically about political funding for UMNO and BN although there were clearly leakages into private pockets,” he added.
Isn’t that the truth? That it’s about political funding and the dubious practices that started when Tun Dr Mahathir was prime minister in 1981. For me, all that gobbledygook about kleptocracy is pure Mahathirism. Him repeating it endlessly is indoctrination.
Kua writes further about Daniel Twinning, president of the International Republican Institute (IRI), who boasted that the IRI had been funding the opposition in Malaysia, namely Pakatan Harapan (PH), through the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) since 2002.
(Kua wrote: “For those who are not aware, the NED has been exposed as a CIA “soft power” front for the US government several years ago. Knowing the blood-drenched “regime changing” record of the CIA in so many Third World countries since 1947, can any credible organisation in Malaysia be seen receiving funds from such a dubious source?”)
Reading this letter from Kua, it has often puzzled me why Malaysia never had a political funding law that would have made things more transparent and not put Malaysia in this messy situation. The United States has strict campaign finance laws that regulate political contributions.
Apparently, former minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan wrote an article on July 31, 2015, published in Malaysiakini that was on the stumbling blocks to political funding reform.
Abdul Rahman wrote that when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) proposed political funding reforms, the idea was supported by prime minister Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak, who wanted it to be implemented and co-opted under the Government Transformation Programme's initiative.
“One of the first parties to object to the funding reform was DAP (Democratic Action Party). The reason given by DAP was largely self-serving – and what a huge disappointment that had been. DAP's leaders said they feared that the reform would put DAP at a disadvantage,” Abdul Rahman added.
The reason given by DAP, according to Abdul Rahman, was that full disclosure would hurt their contributors and consequently the financing for the opposition, the fear is that the donors might be prosecuted by the winning coalition for supporting the losing coalition in any general election.
On a positive note, a new law on political donations and financing of political parties was to have been tabled in November. However, Parliament was dissolved on October 10, 2022, to make way for GE15. It is assumed the bill will be tabled when it sits under the new government.
Whichever coalition that may be. The political funding law is long overdue.
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