Update 2 - Adds raise in candidates' sending limits, link to White Paper - - A proposed law on party funding, unveiled in White Paper form this afternoon, will regulate the registration of political parties as well as how donations to them are accounted. It provides that all donations over €500 have to be registered by the political parties. Donations over €10,000 by the same source have to be reported to the Electoral Commission and donations over €50,000 from the same source will be banned.
The White Paper was announced by the Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, Owen Bonnici.
He explained that the party financing bill would be made up of five sections.
The first will deal the constitutional status and functions of political parties, rights of association, members’ rights as well as the legal status of political parties. The bill will also propose the establishment of an internal disciplinary board so as to maintain the discipline of political parties. It will also tackles the dissolution of political parties.
In part two, the proposed law will regulate the registration of political parties. It will also provide for methods of redress when registration is not allowed.
Part III of the bill focuses on the accounting requirements of political parties and stresses on the importance of transparency. The powers of the Electoral Commission are being extended to include inquiring powers regarding the acquisition and disposal of such funds, apart from monitoring powers.
The Electoral Commission will have to be notified of all relevant information concerning the acquisition and disposal of funds. In the event of infringement by any political parties, administrative sanctions may be imposed. Moreover in the event of more serious breaches including false declarations made by the party representatives or by the treasurer collating data about party funding, criminal action may also be taken.
The treasurer must observe the generally accepted standards when preparing the annual statement of accounts and must also ensure that the accounting records contain sufficient details enabling the identification of all the sources of income, all disbursements made and the manner in which such receipts or expenditure takes place. The records must also contain the assets and liabilities of the political parties. The annual statements of accounts must also portray the statement of cash flows.
The accounts will be delivered to the Electoral Commission and they will be made accessible for public inspection.
In Part IV, the new law will regulate donations to registered parties and their members. This part lists non-permissible donors and/or donations including donations made evidently in the expectation of, or in return for, a specific financial or political advantage, assistance in kind, donations from foreign sources (non-EU) without prejudice to any other law, namely the Foreign Interference Act.
Anonymous donations will only be allowed when they do not exceed €500.
Dr Bonnici said this level was felt as striking a balance between transparency and the need some felt to make a small donation without being made public.
DONATIONS OVER €500 TO BE REGISTERED - THOSE OVER €10,000 TO BE PUBLISHED
The White Paper says that every donation or donations which when considered together with other donations made by the same source amount to €500 or more in one financial year should be registered by the parties and included in their annual reports to the Electoral Commission.
Donations of over €10,000 from the same source have to be reported directly to the Commission and donations over €50,000 are banned.
Part V of the bill proposes related amendments to the General Elections Act, the European Parliament Elections Regulations and the Local Councils Act.
CANDIDATES' MAXIMUM SPENDING LEVEL RAISED
The maximum expenditure by election candidates has been raised to €25,000 per candidate in the electoral campaign, €50,000 for European Parliament elections and €5,000 for local councils. Candidates have to report donations exceeding €500.
The consultation period will continue till the end of March. Submissions may be made to the Justice Secretariat at justice.opm@gov.mt or by ordinary mail to Parliamentary Secretariat for Justice, Working Group on Party Financing, 30, Old Treasury Street, Valletta.
The parliamentary secretary also intends to hold talks with the political parties and the Electoral Commission..
The Bill will be debated in Parliament before the summer recess.
Dr Bonnici said this Bill meant that another Labour Party electoral promise was being implemented. He explained that the text of the proposed Bill was drafted after the government studied and fine-tuned the private member’s bill above prepared in the last legislature by Franco Debono.
Dr Debono was involved in the drafting.
http://opm.gov.mt/en/financingpoliticalparties/Pages/PartOneGeneralProvisions.aspx