CYBERJAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (pix) said today that one of the basic principles in fighting corruption is not to provide public funding for organisations controlled by political parties.
“No democratic countries in the world allow public funding for organisations controlled by political parties,“ he said when asked on the MCA campaign in the Tanjung Piai by-election playing up his refusal to give a RM30 million annual grant to MCA-controlled Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC).
Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said: “To the Chinese voters, they said I (am) anti-Chinese. To the Malay, they said I anti-Malay. It doesn’t make sense.”
He said media organisations should not hammer the government for taking a principled position that it could not fund an organisation owned by a political party.
He said the RM30 million was set aside for TAR UC if MCA relinquished control of the institution.
“If you give up the control, the money is waiting for you. Until you migrate away from political control, not to the government but to the Chinese community and student alumni,“ he added. - Bernama
