(Adds PL statement)

A Council of Europe's report on a proposed party financing law for Malta was based on a draft which had been obsolete for months.

This draft had not been drawn up by Nationalist MP Franco Debono, who the Prime Minister had tasked to draw up a draft law just over a year ago after the MP had been campaigning for the introduction of such a law since his first speech in Parliament.

Dr Debono told timesofmalta.com this morning that the CoE's Greco (Group of States against Corruption) report was not about his draft but about a draft presented by the Justice Ministry's Drafting Unit, with which he completely dissociated himself.

Among other things, the Greco report objects to the distinction between party and non-party members and describes the proposed €10,000 threshold for the publication of the names of other donors as critically high - two aspects which Dr Debono had immediately told the Prime Minister were unacceptable and which had not been included in his first draft.

Greco also found the draft submitted by the AG inadequate and lacking.

"I had found very little cooperation and assistance in the drafting of the bill. I had to wait weeks and months for certain replies and it was only my determination which spurred me on.

"My final draft still needs to be fine tuned but it satisfies and goes beyond all the Greco requirements."

Dr Debono said the Attorney General had received a request from Greco to inform them as to the state of the law in Malta and the AG contacted the Drafting Unit, which handed the office a draft which he had already warned was very diluted and watered down from the specifications.

The Nationalist MP had already scrapped and replaced this draft.

"I informed the AG that they should inform Greco that the Drafting Unit's draft had already been changed radically."

He said he was meant to attend Greco but could not make it due to family health problems.

His finalised draft, which he had drawn up together with auditors, Dr Debono said, satisfied all Greco's requirements.

"I think I should have been contacted and consulted before the AG passed on to Greco an obsolete draft which I had already replaced.

"But instead of speaking to me, the AG spoke to the Drafting Unit and handed over a draft which had been obsolete for months," Dr Debono said.

Dr Debono is understood to have been furious when the government received the Greco report because he had long been saying that the draft sent had been completely inadequate.

DONATION THRESHOLDS MUST BE REALISTIC - PL

The Labour Party said it has not seen any drafts on party financing.

It said it was not consulted and was not aware how many drafts existed and which one, if any, was the Prime Minister supporting.

"Such equivocal episodes, which have now become the order of the day of the Gonzi government, are symptomatic of the mediocrity of the present administration.

"The draft which government seems to be proposing to regulate party financing consciously creats loopholes.

"The Labour Party does not agree with the distinction between party and non-party members, which is clearly a strategic loophole tailored to fit particular individuals, some of whom can be easily found by going through a Yellow Pages directory.

"Similarly, the donation thresholds must be realistic and not simply set to pay lip service to regulating party financing," it said.