The government has dismissed a proposal to dump the law on party financing being proposed by Nationalist MP Franco Debono in favour of amendments to the Voluntary Organisations Act.
Writing recently in The Sunday Times, leading lawyer Max Ganado said politicians should build on existing laws rather than seek solutions which create even more confusion and discrimination among organisations.
Political parties qualified as voluntary organisations, he argued, shrugging off Dr Debono’s assertion that political parties are the most unregulated bodies at Maltese law.
“There is indeed a regulatory regime which exists and it is even supplemented by regulations on the form and content of accounts,” Dr Ganado wrote, referring to the Voluntary Organisations Act.
“Assuming the major political parties would not wish to enrol as they both shy away from transparency, all one has to do is extend these regulations to non-enrolled organisations and insert a rule on what accounts and reports are needed for non-enrolled organisations.”
But when asked about Dr Ganado’s proposal, a spokes-man for the Justice Ministry refused the idea and said: “The Voluntary Organisations Act regulates voluntary organisations while the law regulating party financing will be regulating party financing.”
Stressing that both laws were important, the ministry spokesman pointed out that the government was “committed” to bringing up Dr Debono’s Bill for discussion in Parliament.
Meanwhile, a Bill proposing amendments to the laws related to voluntary organisations is“being finalised”, the ministry spokesman added.
The changes will incorporate proposals made by Voluntary Organisations Commissioner Kenneth Wain and the Council for the Voluntary Sector, both having been highly critical of the law’s lack of enforcement in recent years.
Changes will also be made to the Public Collections Act and the Civil Code, the spokesman said, adding that consultations were at their final stages.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party said several proposals aimed at having more accountability and transparency “should be considered”.
“The Labour Party has always been clear and consistent in its position in favour of a law regulating party financing. Our position in favour of the Galdes report has always been consistent,” the spokesman added, referring to the government-appointed Galdes commission which presented its recommendations back in 1995.
“It is the party in government which keeps shelving the issue over and over again.” Labour said it was the only political party in Parliament which published its profit and loss and balance sheet accounts each year.
Meanwhile, it emerged today that a consultation process on Dr Debono’s law, which was filed as a Private Member’s Bill last January, will begin in the coming days. (See page 1)
The backbencher, who has recently come under fire for still being paid as the Prime Minister’s parliamentary assistant, told The Times he had not stopped working on the Bill since it was filed and had continued to campaign for its introduction.
Asked about the fact that he had stopped reporting for work since before November, Dr Debono said his major task was this reform on party financing, which did not involve having to go to work at Castille.
He delivered accordingly and kept pushing whenever he found resistance, to the point that he presented it as a Private Member’s Bill when he got the impression it was going to be shelved.
The piloting of such a law was something expected of a minister or a parliamentary secretary, not a parliamentary assistant, he said, questioning what other parliamentary assistants had contributed since their appointment.