"Nationalist MP Franco Debono said this afternoon that a Eurostat survey which showed the Maltese people's concern about links between business and politicians underlined his campaign for a party funding law.

Th survey results, issued yesterday, showed that half of Maltese respondents felt that links between business and politicians were too close.

Dr Debono also noted that 66% had said there was not enough transparency in party funding.  

The Nationalist MP last month presented a private member's motion for a Bill to regulate party funding. The bill focuses on transparency and regulated the permissible donations to political parties. It obliges the parties to file annual audited accounts but excludes state funding.

He has been campaigning for such a law since his first speech in Parliament four years ago.

"The survey showed how the people are concerned over the issue of transparency in party funding. This is a matter which this country should have tackled a long time ago," the MP told timesofmalta.com Political parties were still the most unregulated organisations in Malta.

GRECO, the Council of Europe grouping, had been urging the country to enact such legislation for quite some time, he said.

Such a reform was important for democracy  as it would strengthen accountability and transparency and discourage the establishment of underground power and money networks, oligarchies and cliques, he added.