Dr M: Did RM2.6b violate election laws?

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has warned if Umno needed RM2.6 billion to contest the general election, the party might have violated election laws.

"The expenditure statement for each candidate must be reported to the authorities. It is an offence to spend more than a certain amount.

"I apologise if this rule had already been abolished. It was designed to prevent corruption," he wrote on his blog today.

Under the Election Offences Act 1954, the spending cap for candidates is limited to RM200,000 for Parliament seats and RM100,000 for state seats.

As there are 222 Parliamentary seats and 505 state seats contested in 2013, the maximum BN could legally spend on its election campaign was RM95 million.