Updated: Tedesco Triccas says she spent €36,104 on EP election but respected legal spending cap

Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas, who was a Nationalist candidate for the European Parliament elections, has submitted a statement to the Electoral Commission showing she did not spend more than the limit imposed by law.

She said in a press release today that she spent a total of €36,104 but only €18,408 after she had formally submitted her application to the Electoral Commission to become a candidate, thus respecting the legal spending cap.

Earlier, in an article in The Times, she said that in taking the decision to run for such an election, she promised herself that she would lose neither her integrity as a person, nor, as a lawyer, her respect for the law.

She admited, however, that the provisions of the law on electoral spending made it a prime contender in the definition of ‘the law is an ass'.

Dr Metrola Tedesco Triccas said the law limited spending by ‘a candidate' but the obvious question was when one actually became a candidate.

"While my intention to run for the elections had been known for some time, and the party had also accepted my name on its ticket, I only became a candidate the moment my nomination was submitted correctly to the Electoral Commission. The law is the law, and does not work on assumptions or perceptions, but only on facts.

"Therefore when the reference throughout is to a ‘candidate', it is only referring to the person who has been nominated officially to the Electoral Commission. Hence with this clear definition of the responsible person, the applicable period for the expenses to be declared, is just as clearly defined, namely between the 4 May and the 4 June, both dates included," she said, adding that she had taken informal legal advice from various colleagues in the profession, including an eminent retired member of the judiciary, who all subscribed to this interpretation.

"I have therefore submitted to the Electoral Commission a true statement of all the expenditure incurred by myself as a candidate in relation to the MEP elections."

The former candidate said she had spent more money prior to this period, but this did not fall under any legal obligation vis-à-vis the Electoral Commission. Still, she felt it her personal obligation to give details, and would therefore be releasing through the media, a full statement of all her spending, outside of the period when she was a candidate

"There will be those who say that I am exploiting a loophole, but the law is what it is, and when it is an ass, as this one is, perhaps it needs to be made an ass of, without breaking it, and without resorting to false declarations. The time has long been here for a revision of certain aspects of our electoral laws and procedures, which are archaic, unrealistic and based on mistrust, Dr Metsola Tedesco Triccas said.

EXPENSES STATEMENT ISSUED

In a statement issued this morning, Dr Metsola Tedesco Triccas said she spent a total of €18,408 on her electoral campaign during the period when she was officially a candidate

Spending before she officially became a candidate:

Those figures, she said, did not include expenses made by the PN or third persons where she had no say in the decision-making but may have benefited. She also reiterated that she had received no sponsorships.