Audit Election Candidates Expenses Says Ex Ec Official

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A scene at a nomination centre for the 15th general election last November.PETALING JAYA: A former Election Commission (EC) official has called for the tightening of regulations on spending for polls campaigning.
Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, who served as the commission’s deputy chairman from 2004 to 2013, said candidates’ expenses should be audited by registered auditors before submission to the EC.
Presently, although there is a ceiling on how much a candidate can spend for campaigning, no audit is required unless a complaint is filed by a losing candidate or voters.
He said this meant the candidate could simply provide any figure or item just to meet the requirements of submitting an expenditure statement.
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The Elections Offences Act 1954 stipulates a candidate cannot spend more than RM100,000 on his or her campaign in a state contest and more than RM200,000 in a parliamentary contest.
“We must make it a requirement that the statements are audited to ensure the figures provided are credible,” Wan Ahmad told FMT.
“Otherwise, people will just take the statement of accounts for granted.”
He was commenting on former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call for a limit on the expenditure of political parties during elections to curb corruption and bribery.
Wan Ahmad said limits could be imposed but the issue was adherence to the rules.
Bersih chairman Thomas Fann backed Wan Ahmad’s call, saying the EC could either audit the submitted expenses itself or require them to be audited by accredited firms.
“The EC must post them for public viewing on its website so the public can scrutinise the accounts,” he added.
Fann said limiting the spending of political parties during campaigning was also necessary since they could spend more than the limit set for candidates in order to influence voters.
“This would render the electoral playing field uneven as it would disadvantage smaller parties and some independent candidates,” he added. - FMT

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