Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday unveiled a wide-ranging National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP), an ambitious plan to make the country corruption free in five years.

Mahathir conceded that introducing new legislation on political funding would be challenging, but said it had to be done to combat corruption.

“Political funding is a big problem because political parties need funding. Without funding, they cannot function,” he said, adding that “the cost of being in politics is very high now and it is getting higher all the time.”

“So, the government wants to look at how political funding should not lead to bribes to parties or the government. It is very difficult, but we will find a way,” the prime minister said at a press conference after the launch of the NACP in Kuala Lumpur.

The plan states that a new act to govern political funding, which will treat lobbying as an offense, will be created within two years. Under the political funding law, parties will be compelled to disclose all their sources of funding, including donations, or they will be liable to punishment.

—AB/UNA-OIC