FINANCIAL resources have the wherewithal to turn a playing field lopsided and politics is especially vulnerable. Given its importance to any country, it is a wonder that it had not been properly regulated to ensure a level playing field for all political parties participating in any democracy, including Malaysia. Instead, what one finds throughout the world are laws that do little to curb spending and how the funds are raised. In the United States, for example, corporations fund the activity of politicians to such an extent that Washington is accused of favouring corporations over citizens. In there lies the fear of unregulated funding for politicians and political parties, a fear pre-empted by the prime minister when he first took the reins of power in 2009. And yet, he had little support from even the opposition parties then.
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