Financing Politics in Malaysia: Reforming the System

While debates about reforms of the financing of politics focus on money spent during federal and state elections, this study argues for review of the financing of internal party elections. In Malaysia, the government has proposed reforms of the financing of politics but its focus is on only one issue, the introduction of a new law governing political parties. This article traces the need for two additional points that have to be considered when this type of reform is proposed, namely: (1) institutional reforms of agencies responsible for monitoring the activities of parties and elections, to allow for greater autonomy of these institutions; and (2) measures to ensure internal party elections are conducted in a manner devoid of deep monetisation. One reason for this additional focus is that negative trends in financing of party elections are being replicated in federal and state elections.