Frankly, I do not see any validity in debating the financing of political parties on the eve of a general election campaign. It should not be a campaign issue although I agree that this issue needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to prevent the ever increasing loss of citizens' interest and confidence in the political life of our country.
The latest media reports of politicians mingling with business people and the reaction of the general public to these "sensational" stories have demonstrated how citizens are showing greater concern with regard to corruption linked to political parties' gradual loss of transparency and independence, and improper influence on political decisions through financial means.
A few years back an interesting attempt was made by our political parties to potentially get their respective houses in order and possibly lead by example. Substantial progress was made through the Galdes commission report which unfortunately did not see the light of the day simply because of a trivial "excuse" related to the benchmark figure determined for public declaration.
As usual it was a question of political immaturity or a resultant effect of the then political climate. Since then nothing dramatically has changed except that more citizens have lost their confidence in the political parties and that nowadays, in exercising their activities, the political parties need substantial financial resources to gain visibility and to obtain political support for their ideas.
Although I doubt whether the timing is right to encourage our political parties to come up with some magic formula and announce an agreement, I still hold the view that in the interest of the country this issue needs to be resolved without undue delay.
The recent declarations made by the Prime Minister were meant to get the ball rolling although he seemed to be more concerned with the adherence to the financial regulations concerning the audited accounts of the commercial entities owned by the party as shareholder rather than the transparency and accountability of the party itself as an organisation. So far, the political parties, with the exception of the one in government, have remained mum on this issue. A typical reaction of someone who is over the moon to get things done!
Political parties are an essential element of pluralistic democracies. As citizens we are duty bound to ensure that they carry out their tasks and functions in the interest of the country and in absolute respect for the fundamental principles of political democracy. They deserve our support, not least our financial assistance. The crux of the problem is basically how political parties should be financed. Shall we regulate private financing to eliminate opportunities for influence and corruption? Shall we introduce state funding?
In most European countries the norm on financing political parties and on electoral campaigns is based on a reasonable balance between public and private funding, fair criteria for the distribution of state contributions to parties, strict rules concerning private donations, a threshold on parties' expenditures linked to election campaigns, complete transparency of accounts, the establishment of an independent audit authority and meaningful sanctions for those who violate the rules.
So even in this case we do have a European model to work on. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. However, although the principles sound great, it's quite difficult, though not impossible to implement the proper mechanism that guarantees transparency, accountability and credibility in the financial administration of the political parties.
The major hurdle in this debate is the question of state funding. Why should a taxpayer share the burden of subsidising a political party unwillingly? Why should political parties, being private organisations, enjoy the privilege of getting a relatively big chunk of public finances? Would that be discriminatory in the face of other private organisations such as those forming the civil society? But don't we know that our political parties are already getting subsidies from public finances through the back door? Who should decide whether political parties shall receive state funding - the benefactor (the citizen) or the beneficiary (the party)?
It is a fact that state funding would enable parties to maintain, to a certain degree, their independence from private donors thus lessening the threat of corruption. It helps to promote fairness among parties since private funding depends on the wealth of supporters. Public subvention could alleviate the ever increasing expense of political competition. As an added source of income, state funding would enable political parties to improve their performance standards.
On the other hand, experience has shown that state funding does not significantly reduce political corruption and the parties' desire for money. State funding has to be divided according to some criteria so "fairness" among parties becomes questionable. Dependence on the state is not a lesser evil than dependence on private sponsors. Parties receiving state funding would find it hard to play the mediator role between state and society and as a consequence the link between the party and the electorate would certainly weaken.
Similarly, there are the pros and cons of private funding. The major problem here is concerned with the disclosure of the amounts of donations and the identity of the donors. Until this very day no party has ever publicly declared any of this "confidential information of a commercial nature"! That's why we are in urgent need of introducing specific legislation to regulate the political party funding.
I know that our political parties' internal slogan is "Problem No Money". Some would argue if that is their problem let them solve it their own way! However, I don't share the view with those who oppose state funding for our political parties. I still believe that the state should grant some form of financial support to the political parties irrespective whether it would be direct funding or indirect subsidy-in-kind. Through the state contribution, the citizen (not only the party member) would be empowered to scrutinise the political parties' financial resources and assess their level of transparency and accountability.
That might also give an added value to the citizen's vote during the general election!
matyas@maltanet.net