Faiz Fadzil, the party’s secretary-general, said his conviction in the matter was based on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s commitment to carrying out institutional reform.

“This bill is among the institutional reforms on Pakatan Harapan’s agenda. The delay could be due to the need to engage the relevant parties and government agencies to finalise the bill,” he told FMT.

However, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim of PKR questioned the government’s commitment to introduce the bill. “Till now, the bill has yet to be tabled. All this talk about combating corruption and abuse of power as well as improving governance is nothing but empty talk,” he said when contacted.

PAS treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad said there is no need to rush the bill. He said the government should gather everyone’s views on the matter to ensure the proposed law is fair.

“It is okay for it (the bill) to be delayed as long as it is inclusive and just,” he said.

On Friday, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs questioned the lack of government plans to introduce a political financing bill under the second phase of its Madani accountability framework, saying this is a key reform.

The think tank’s CEO Aira Azhari said the second phase of the framework, covering May to August, included the proposed ombudsman and freedom of information bills, as well as enhanced whistleblower protections.

These efforts would be weakened if political financing reform remains elusive. Political financing, she said, is “central to the integrity of democratic governance”.

Last year, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said it would be difficult for a political financing bill to be passed before the next general election as more feedback was still needed. In January, her deputy, M Kulasegaran, said the government was awaiting the results of a public perception study before finalising the bill.