It remains a secret whether the major political parties actually pay their water and electricity bills because the Government’s payment agency, ARMS Ltd, has refused a freedom of information request on the subject.
Last April, Times of Malta asked the two big political parties whether they had any outstanding water and electricity bills following information that both parties were behind on their payments.
Asked how much it owed ARMS for water and electricity, Labour’s response was: “The Labour Party will be publishing its accounts as usual.” Two weeks later, the party issued an abridged version of their accounts making no mention of water and electricity bills.
The Nationalist Party said this was a commercial matter involving the operations of its companies and “the agreements these companies have with public entities”.
When Times of Malta asked the PN for more details about these agreements with ARMS and whether they benefited from longer credit terms or subsidised rates, the party refused to answer.
ARMS maintained a similar position: “It is ARMS’ policy not to divulge customer details, or any other details related to such accounts, to third parties.”
Times of Malta filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to find out what agreements the agency had with political parties. ARMS Ltd refused the request saying the law did not apply to “documents that are held by a commercial partnership in which the government or another public authority has a controlling interest, in so far as the documents in question relate to the commercial activities of the commercial partnership”.
The FOI request was also refused on appeal for the same reasons and Times of Malta has now passed on the request to the Information and Data Protection Commissioner for his consideration.
Party finances were a hot topic during the election campaign and afterwards when news emerged of the PN’s dire financial situation. The PL, which ran a well-funded electoral campaign, has promised to introduce a party financing law to regulate donations by September.