Parliamentary Commission to report on party funding

The Prime Minister has given notice of a motion for the appointment of a parliamentary commission to report to the House on party funding and the introduction of a verifiable system to regulate financial donations to the political parties.

The commission is being asked to report on:

The regulation of financial donations according to amounts, donors and the groups or activities from which the donations would have originated;

A definition of political parties, particularly with regard to groups which claim to be political parties but are not represented in Parliament;

Reporting procedures, publication of accounts and measures to prevent fraud in the declarations and penalties.

The commission is also being asked to report on the publication of audited financial statements of the political parties including their balance sheet, the format, frequency and detail in such statements, and whether they should include entities controlled by the political parties.

The commission will be composed of a chairman and two representatives each from the government and the opposition. Meetings will be open and the public will be invited to submit its views.