Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1496177
5 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 APRIL 2023 pointing out that nobody has ever questioned its supervision of general elections since inde- pendence. "It was a functioning, tried and tested organ. We could not af- ford to wait another 30 years to set up a new authority," he says. But Debono fears that iner- tia on addressing the problem raised by the Constitutional Court has effectively rendered the law he had piloted useless. "It is unacceptable that the law has been left dormant for more than four years," he says. He also insists that having a functioning law regulating party financing is a precondition for any discussion on state funding for political parties. "People will only accept state funding if parties have their house in order and their ac- counts are published and scru- tinised," he says. The current law foresees ad- ministrative sanctions of up to €50,000 for different breaches related to the Act. Parties have to present annual accounts and donation reports listing the names of individu- als and companies who donate more than €7,000. Anyone who maliciously splits a donation in smaller components to circum- vent the law can be liable to a maximum fine of €10,000. Party treasurers are also liable to fines of up to €20,000 if they do not comply to their reporting obli- gations. Party officials who withhold information from the Electoral Commission's auditor are also liable to "suspension from hold- ing an office in a political party for a period of not more than three months." The party financing saga In 1995, a commission chaired by the late former Central Bank governor Anthony Galdes pro- posed that political parties should declare every individu- al contribution above Lm5,000 (€11,500). Labour agreed to the proposals, but the PN objected, insisting that only donations over Lm20,000 (€46,000) should be declared. The issue was raised once again by Debono in his parlia- mentary maiden speech in 2008. He had written his doctoral the- sis on party financing. In 2010, Debono was entrusted by then prime minister Lawrence Gonzi to forge ahead with a report on political party financing reform. Meanwhile, a report by the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (Gre- co) had also called on Malta to introduce a law which would make it mandatory for politi- cal parties to declare donations above certain amounts, and to disclose the identity of donors. Greco also called on the Mal- tese government to ensure that donations from unknown sources be banned, and that political parties should keep proper accounting and auditing systems. Increasingly ostracized by his own party, Debono went on to table a private members' Bill in 2012 but this was never dis- cussed. With a change of government in 2013, then justice minister Owen Bonnici took up the ba- ton and tabled a Bill, which eventually became law. When presenting the Bill to parliament Bonnici hailed Debono for paving the way on the subject, stating that under the Italian custom of naming laws after the politicians behind them, the Bill would be known as the "Debono law." But the euphoria at having introduced such a bold reform has clearly faded. In a sign of lax enforcement, the most recent financial reports to be upload- ed by the Electoral Commission date back four years. The Labour Party's accounts for 2019 – presented two years late in March 2022 – are still not available to the public be- cause they are still being re- viewed. The Nationalist Party has yet to submit its 2021 re- ports, and although all parties have submitted their financial and donation reports for 2020, none are yet published by the Electoral Commission. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 'It's like having criminal law without the police to enforce it' More than four years after the court judgment that neutered the Electoral Commission, the situation has not changed, and Malta still lacks any effective authority which can fine political parties for breaches of the financing law