Wikipedia<\/a><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/p>\nWhat makes political donation legitimate depends on the law in the respective country. Different countries have different restrictions on political donations and funding. For example, in the US and UK, corporation donations are not permissible, while they are accepted in Australia and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
First things first, political donations are legal in Malaysia. The Election Offences Act (1954) regulate the maximum expenses allowed for candidates vying for parliamentary seats and for state seats during the campaign period.<\/p>\n
The permissible campaign expenditure set by the Election Offences Act (1954) is RM100,000 per candidate for state seats, and RM200,000 per candidate for federal seats. According to this guideline, with 505 state seats and 222 parliamentary seats in the 2013 general election, the maximum amount that Barisan Nasional was allowed to spend was only about RM95 million.<\/p>\n
However, when it comes to political party funding, there is no limit, and parties are not obliged to disclose the source of the funding, which makes political donations a vague subject but still entirely legal in the country.<\/p>\n
With the recent unveiling of a RM2.6 billion political donation received by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak prior to the 13th<\/sup> general election, let\u2019s take a look how other countries in the world are faring when it comes to political donations:<\/p>\n