THE draft for the proposed Political Funding Bill is ready but engagement with stakeholders is still needed, says Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic).

       The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) told the Dewan Rakyat he had two discussions with the Election Commission and the Attorney General on the matter.

       “At the moment, the draft is ready, but we have yet to conduct the necessary engagement sessions with all the stakeholders,” he said in his winding-up speech for his ministry under the 12th Malaysia Plan yesterday.

       Wan Junaidi said there were a lot of implications involving the Bill and it must be studied thoroughly.

       “I also did research on the topic of political donations in 2001 as part of my assignment in the United States, where many weaknesses were found in their laws.

       “The rich who use their own funding were not questioned while those who receive donations from private parties were regulated,” he said, adding that Malaysia wanted to have a more comprehensive Bill that would fulfil the needs of all parties.

       The de facto law minister said the government was committed to continuing with the initiative related to regulating political donations.

       “The study to form the new Bill at the moment is currently being done, which will focus on the aspect of regulating political donations based on the principle of transparency and accountability,” he said.

       “The Bill, which is currently being studied, will take into consideration all stakeholders’ views to ensure that the implementation mechanism will be effective.”

       On a separate matter, he said, there was no need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe the alleged theft of case material from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

       Wan Junaidi noted the investigation papers had already been submitted to the Attorney General and the investigations were conducted according to the rule of law.

       Three MACC officers were detained on Sept 20 and remanded to assist investigations into the allegations of abuse of power and malpractice in the case.