Nationalist MEP candidate Alan Deidun has called on political parties to publish a list of donors to confirm or dispel rumours that the construction industry is their "real kitty".

In a letter published in today's newspaper, he said political parties should take the cue from the William J. Clinton Foundation, which recently revealed the names of its 205,000 donors in the USA.

When contacted, he elaborated that while there was nothing wrong in political parties being funded by construction tycoons, the public had a right to know if this was the case so there would be a better system of "checks and balances".

"The list of donors needs to be open to public scrutiny. If there is a possibility of conflict of interest, we need to know. What if some construction magnates are being given preferential treatment because they are financing a particular party?" he said.

He added that the Nationalist party should take the lead on this matter and not wait for political consensus.

"The political parties are waiting for each other. It's like they have an understanding," he said.

Mr Deidun had in fact raised the issue during a speech at the PN General Council some weeks ago where he said that the Nationalist Party should dispel the impression that it is the party of contractors.

He said there was a lack of political will within the PN to reveal the names of its main donors but that there were also sections inside the party that were in favour of doing so.

He said his comments had sparked an internal uproar among a number of contractors who are members of the party.

Mr Deidun said it was not necessary to publish the name of every small donor but that the major ones needed to be mentioned.

He said the recommendation of the Galdes commission, which was that parties should declare every individual contribution above €12,000, was "too weak" and needed to be revised.

The Labour party had agreed with this recommendation but the PN wanted the figure doubled, whereas on the other hand Alternattiva Demokratika had called for it to be reduced to €1,200.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com