Despite exceeding the €25,000 threshold set by law, the Nationalist Party is insisting two mega donations made in last month’s fundraising telethon were perfectly legal as they came from multiple sources.
More than €600,000 were collected in the December 10 event. The sum was deemed by the party as a vote of confidence in the new administration, led by Adrian Delia. However, eyebrows were raised when it transpired that a third of the amount raised came from just two donations.
The PN’s deputy leader for party affairs, Robert Arrigo, presented a sum of €141,000 and general secretary Clyde Puli made a donation of €56,000. Both sums were well above the limit set by the party financing law, which forbids political parties from receiving donations exceeding €25,000 from a single source within the same year.
Asked on what terms were the two large sums accepted and whether the need was felt to give an explanation to the Electoral Commission, which by law regulates party finances, a PN spokesman insisted there was no breach whatsoever.
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“The party officials you refer to, like other activists, have collected numerous donations from multiple donors on behalf of the party and then presented the money collected. Furthermore, they issued receipts to every single donor for every single donation,” he said.
The spokesman also pointed out that no single donation exceeded the cap set by the law governing party financing.
“Rest assured that the funds raised by the Nationalist Party during the marathon have been collected in accordance with the party financing law,” he added.
This newspaper was unable to verify whether that was the case because no detailed breakdown of the two donations was made available.
The PN spokesman stressed that fundraising activities were crucial for the survival of political parties, in the absence of State funding. Consequently, party officials, MPs, local councillors, committee members and the party media served as a vehicle to collect the necessary funds, he said.
“The PN is extremely pleased with the €620,319 it managed to raise during the December fundraising marathon. It was the best it managed since in Opposition. These funds are not only essential for our daily operations but have also given a new boost of confidence to our supporters,” the spokesman added.
No replies to questions sent to the Electoral Commission had been received by the time of writing.