It has always fascinated me – and not in a good way – how commercial companies and law-abiding taxpayers are subjected to all forms of scrutiny about their income, whilst political parties are not. Apart from all the power that politicians get by the very nature of their political status, political parties also get what is essentially a wild card that excludes them from any kind of regulation.

Now don’t get me wrong. As much as I am against partisan politics, I am not intrinsically against political parties. I fully recognise that, in a democracy, they are essential and that it is usually through them that the biggest and most effective societal changes happen. However, this does not alter the fact that the current situation with party financing makes me sick to my stomach.

As far as I know, the only thing regulating a political party’s expenditure is the (never adhered to) individual campaign limit during electoral campaigns. Other than that, political parties have carte blanche to do as they please.

I don’t think I can remember a time when the issue of party financing wasn’t being discussed in Malta. I don’t even remember a single election during which some party or other did not spend exorbitant amounts on its campaign, and I certainly don’t remember a time when I was satisfied with the sorry explanations of where the money came from.

And clearly, it was always in the interests of the two big parties to keep dragging their feet on this matter; after all, who wants big brother looking over their shoulder when, as things stand, they can practically get away with anything?

But now, finally, as part of the electoral promise that got it elected, the government is about to do something to address the situation. Whether or not this is just an exercise in public relations or a real effort to make things right lies in the detail of what is being proposed and what will finally be implemented. If we end up with something that has more loopholes than the current carte blanche, then we’ll be worse off living under the illusion of change than if things were to remain the same.

The latest question currently clouding the waters is whether parties should be funded, or at least part-funded, by the state. My knee-jerk reaction to this question was a loud and clear “of course not” because, like most people, I don’t want my tax payments going towards funding politicians and their campaigns. On reflection, however, I came to realise that leaving political parties entirely up to their own fund-raising devices might not be the best idea after all.

Alternattiva Demokratika has been trying its best to explain to the public that, the way things stand, the PN and the PL already benefit from state funding, and considerably so – both parties receive €100,000 a year each, which means that in total, over the past 20 years, €4 million of our taxes has gone towards funding the Labour and Nationalist Parties.

Strictly speaking, this money is meant to be used by the parties to build international relations abroad, but to my knowledge there have never been any checks and balances to make sure that this is in fact the case. As usual, this funding excludes Alternattiva but, more importantly, it contradicts the present stance of both the PN and the PL on state funding.

The PL is claiming that this is not the right time to consider political party state funding and the PN are saying that this should be considered and introduced in the new regulations. Both are wrong, because state funding is already happening and has been happening for quite a while. In addition, our taxes also pay for the exorbitant cost of Parliament and governing the country.

The main reason why countries regulate party financing is to control private donations and thus mitigate the risk of a few interested parties with deep pockets getting the opportunity to abuse a party’s power. It is no secret that everywhere in the world, certain business entities – as well as individuals – invest in political parties for eventual gain. This is, of course, usually very hard to prove because both sides are very good at covering their tracks, but I don’t think there’s anyone out there who believes that these things have not happened, do not happen or will not happen.

Back in 2007, a press report quoted the then Opposition Leader Alfred Sant, as being in agreement with the declaration of all donations in excess of Lm5,000 and the capping of donations at Lm10,000. The Nationalist Party, on the other hand, wanted the limits to be set at Lm10,000 and Lm20,000 respectively, while Alternattiva Demokratika proposed to cap donations at Lm1,000 and have donations in excess of Lm500 declared.

Seven years later, with the political parties still receiving substantial undeclared and unregulated donations, the new regulations propose that donations in excess of €500 have to be declared by the beneficiary and that should be capped at €50,000. This applies to both business donations and those from individuals. 

As I’ve said, I fully understand the importance of having funding in order for strong political parties to survive – and even thrive – but I also believe in multi-party democracy and the way things stand, and even with these new proposals, there’s no way in hell that a third or even fourth party could ever make any headway on the Maltese political scene. 

 

The bottom line? Yes, let’s get the ball rolling, and let’s getting it rolling quickly, but let’s make sure we explore all the options and move forward with an informed and open mind for once. We are already state-funding political parties, so let’s not talk about excluding or including this in our proposals. Instead, let’s talk about regulating it further and expanding its scope to include parties other than the all mighty PL and PN.

In essence, let’s go for a real change that will make a real difference and not a cosmetic one that will only continue to punch holes in this country’s political credibility.