KUALA LUMPUR: The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) is urging the government to end the outdated practice of funding government party operations and rewarding leaders through positions in government-linked companies (GLCs) and statutory bodies.
In a statement, Bersih stressed that the government should establish a democratic, fair and accountable public funding system for political parties, based on the needs of the government and opposition parties.
It said that due to conflicts of interest, the appointment of elected representatives into statutory bodies should be minimised, and those appointed should be subject to the monitoring of the cross-party Special Parliamentary Select Committee to ensure that the body's objectives are met, such as ministers and deputy ministers who are monitored by other members of parliament.
"It is a misuse of public office and trust, even close to corruption, if the government only appoints any partymen such as a former aide to the top leader into a statutory body, just to finance their political work.
"We understand that the party needs to fund full-time party activists, but their salaries need to be funded by the party or their associated entities, not with the people's money.
"At the same time, political parties should be eligible for annual subsidies from taxpayers, based on the number of votes they cast in federal and state elections," it said in a statement today.
Bersih was commenting on the appointment of five chairmen of statutory bodies under the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry effective next Monday.
The appointees were former Pokok Sena member of parliament Datuk Mahfuz Omar who was appointed as Farmers Organisation Authority (LPP) chairman; Permatang Pasir assemblyman Muhammad Faiz Fadzil as Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM) chairman and Paloh assemblyman Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali as the Malaysia Pineapple Industry Board (LPNM) chairman.
Former member of parliament for Kuala Kedah Dr Azman Ismail was also appointed as Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) chairman and Behrang assemblyman Aminuddin Zulkipli as the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) chairman.
Unlike elected representatives who are appointed to GLCs and at the same time become legislators, political appointments in statutory bodies are seen as more reasonable because they are believed to be in line with the direction of the government's policy.
However, Bersih also stressed that the appointees need to have appropriate qualifications for the roles to be played in the statutory body
"The success and failure of statutory bodies is the responsibility of those who are appointed and the government that appoints them, including if there is any abuse of power or corruption.
"Thus, those newly appointed by the ministry into statutory bodies under the ministry need to perform their duties to the people and be accountable to the monitoring committee," he said.