PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar has expressed concern that the proposed Political Donation and Expenditure Act (PDEA) will become a tool for suppression of the opposition.
Nurul Izzah said Pakatan Harapan and PKR advocates better transparency and fair electoral competition but raised doubts about whether the ruling coalition had similar aspirations.
"As we have seen frighteningly often, new powers given to any arm of the BN government have a terrible likelihood of abuse and misuse to further harass our nation’s democratic opposition.
"The cabinet’s hasty approval of the (proposed) PDEA, which is allegedly intended to regulate political funding, may unfortunately only signify the ruling government’s aim to selectively enforce new laws in its unending quest to weaken the opposition," she said in a statement today.
Nurul Izzah noted that the ruling coalition has not had a good track record with regard to the implementation of such laws.
She pointed out how the Sedition Act and anti-terror laws have been used to suppress freedom of speech and assembly.
"Without established precedent of transparent enforcement and regulation of elections under existing laws, policies introduced by such a flawed and biased government are more likely to be tools for further suppression of democratic opposition than means to promote openness towards democracy and transparency," she said.
As such, Nurul Izah stressed that Malaysians must be thoroughly concerned about the proposed introduction of the new law.
She added that it would be meaningless if not coupled with proper investigation, enforcement, and prosecution.
"At the same time we must be extremely wary of possibilities of both frame-ups and disproportionate and selective enforcement against opposition politicians, through the proposed implementation of the PDEA," she said.- Mkini
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