Justice Minister Owen Bonnici hailed former MP Franco Debono for paving the way for the bill to regulate party financing, stating that under the Italian custom of naming laws after the politicians behind them, the bill would be known as the “Debono law.”

Debate on the bill opened this evening with a comprehensive description of the bill by Dr Bonnici, who said that it was the third bill in a “trilogy” presented by the government with the stated aim of increasing transparency in the political process.

The minister said that the bill was a priority to the government, as it made political parties more credible and more accountable to their members and to the general public.

Dr Bonnici said that regulating party financing has been debated for over 20 years – stating that if a word a day was being written over that time, the bill would have been presented 10 years ago.

He noted that the Galdes commission appointed in 1994 had carried out some good work, only for parliament to fail to follow it up, before hailing the 2012 private member’s bill presented by Dr Debono – who he appointed Law Commissioner last year.

The minister emphasised that the government sought to ensure that there was extensive consultation before the bill was presented, noting how a white paper was presented for a period of consultation and how individual meetings were held with Malta’s three main political parties.

He also said that the bill sought to strike a balance between the need for change and the need for political parties to continue their work. Existing political parties are being given three months to register themselves with the Electoral Commission, and the accounting requirements specified in the bill would only come into force next year.

The bill would expand the role of the Electoral Commission to include the regulation of political parties and their financing, with Dr Bonnici explaining that the constitutional body had a proven track record of success as it had organised every election since independence.

Only anonymous donations of up to €50 will be allowed from a single source in any given year. Donations up to €500 will be kept confidential: parties are obliged to record them and the Electoral Commission would have the right to go through the records, but they will not be publicised.

Donations ranging from €500 to €40,000 must be publicised, with greater requirements imposed for donations exceeding €7,000. Donations exceeding €40,000 from a single source in any given year – the threshold was €50,000 in the White Paper – will be made illegal.

As he concluded his address, Dr Bonnici touched upon the issue of state financing for political parties, and insisted that this should only be considered once this bill becomes law and political parties set their affairs in order.

Chris Said insists state financing is essential

But subsequently PN general secretary Chris Said insisted that discarding a proposal to introduce state financing of political parties was an error.

He insisted that it was important to ensure that political parties have adequate resources to be the voice of many, as opposed to solely representing the few who finance them, before pointing out that many European countries have introduced a form of state financing for political parties.

Dr Said observed that while European countries adopted different systems, there were a number of common elements, including a threshold which parties had to meet to receive funds, and the tying of the funds parties received to the votes they received or parliamentary seats they won.

The PN MP also touched into his party’s financial problems, stating that there were two main reasons for this: a loss-making TV station and the decision to build new party headquarters, before stating that it provided clear proof that the party did not seek to enrich itself in 25 years of government. Labour, on the other hand, did so every time it was elected to government, he maintained.

Dr Said emphasised that the Nationalist Party has had to acquire all its properties at its own expense, often borrowing from banks or from members of the public to do so, while Labour had a history of giving public property to itself when in government.

He also highlighted that in six localities – Kalkara, Naxxar, Paola, Pietà, St Julians and Santa Venera – a Labour government actually expropriated property in a prime site to convert it into a party club. He insisted that the party has reaped the benefits of the properties it “stole” for long enough, and said that the time had come to return them to their rightful owners.

As a result of this situation, he argued, political parties were not being placed on an equal footing.