(Adds PL, government statements)

The Opposition is not ruling out the possibility of mounting a legal challenge against the government's decision to vest the Electoral Commission with the authority to act as a watchdog over political parties once the party financing Bill become law.

This was confirmed by PN MP Chris Said during a news conference, in which the Opposition reiterated its concerns that the commission would not be the most independent body to act as a regulator. The commission is appointed by the President on the advice of the prime minister. 

Dr Said argued that by law the government always nominated the majority of members of the commission. In the case of elections, there were many safeguards in place to prevent the government from taking advantage of the situation. However, in the case of party financing, there were fewer checks and balances.

Dr Said expressed concern that sensitive financial information could be leaked through the commission.

He said the Opposition had already proposed that the regulator should be chaired by somebody who enjoyed the confidence of two thirds of MPs, like the Ombudsman and the Auditor General. However, the government had rejected this proposal.

He added that the PN would also considering challenging the law on the grounds that income from properties rented at very low rates from the government would not have to be included in the party accounts.

“This does not create a level playing field and so we will keep all options open”, he said.

PN HAS NO CREDIBILITY TO CRITICISE LAW - PL

The Labour Party said in a statement that Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and the Nationalist Party had no credibility to criticise the law, which they did not have the courage to introduce in 25 years.

A Labour government, on the other hand, introduced it in less than three years.

Moreover, the PN had shown it did not have confidence in constitutional institutions such as the Electoral Commission which for many years had been in charge of the country's democratic elections, including those won by the PN.

This historic step, the PL said, would led to the regulation of political parties to act transparently and seriously which was expected in a democratic country.

It said that the PN had never published its accounts while the Labour Party had been publishing them for years.

OPPOSITION's CRITICISM CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD - GOVERNMENT

Describing today as historic, the government said that not having done anything on party financing for 20 years, the Opposition opted to attack the government’s choice for the Electoral Commission to regulate the law.

This criticism could not be understood as the commission was the Constitutional organ which successfully oversaw all democratic elections in the country for several years