KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should call for the banning of party branding on programmes associated with the government, said Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Muhammad Mohan.
This was his response to a recent controversy involving DAP’s logo appearing on mock donation cheques issued to several primary and secondary schools in Ipoh, Perak.
“It’s plain simple: government funding support has nothing to do with political parties. Perhaps it was an oversight, (but) this should not have happened,” Mohan said when contacted by Scoop.
“Politicians must understand that when government aid is given, it is regardless of party affiliation.
“Perhaps the prime minister can issue a directive that no party logos should be displayed on any government aid programmes with immediate effect,” he added.
Calling on those responsible for the ostensible mistake to issue an apology and promise to avoid a repeat incident, Mohan also said the incident has left a bad impression on the unity government led by Anwar, who is also Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman.
Meanwhile, election watchdog Bersih 2.0 chairman Thomas Fann stressed the importance of ensuring clear separation between government and party resources, as failure to do so could lead to confusion among the public.
“To give out government allocations with party logos is misleading the people. It is also a form of propaganda and self-promotion as it uses government funds to promote one’s own party,” he said.
“Such practices should cease if the PH-led unity government wants to show that they are a reformist government that is different from previous administrations.”
According to images of the presentation shared on social media, the DAP logo was printed on the mock cheques alongside the PH coalition symbol, the Malaysia Madani logo, and the national coat of arms.
On Saturday, it was reported that the mock cheques for an allocation of RM1.8 million for repair and upgrading works were presented to the schools by Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming.
Nga, who is also local government development minister, had subsequently brushed aside criticisms of the presence of the PH component party’s logo on the mock cheques, asserting instead that the schools receiving the donation were what mattered.
Among those who had criticised the logo’s presence was Umno Youth chief Muhammad Akmal Saleh, who said that Nga should explain whether the donations were from government or party funds.
Akmal’s PAS counterpart Ahmad Fadhli Shaari had also said that the party logo printed on the mock cheque implied that there were political elements behind the donation. – August 25, 2023