Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/800760
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 MARCH 2017 15 years and more they operated 'in a certain way'... suddenly, from one day to the next, they had to have fiscal cash registers and give re- ceipts. Otherwise, prison. Nobody said 'we had to be sensitive' to the fact that companies had avoided tax for centuries. Why are we so soft on political parties? "I don't think we're being soft, to be honest. When I met with Cyn- thia Bauerly in 2011 [chair of the US's federal election commission] I was struck by something she said. The federal commission vets the returns of the Presidential election expenses. She said that laws like his are always a work in progress. Be- cause political parties will always find ways to circumvent the law. What we needed was for a struc- ture to be put into place. I think it's a good structure myself. It was unanimously approved by both sides in Parliament. It was a good start. Is it a perfect law? No, of course not. Of course it's still good to look around us and see how it can be improved. But – and here is where we disagree – now is not the time to change it. Now is the time to enforce the law..." This takes us back to the Elector- al Commission, whose members are appointed by the two parties themselves. Isn't this a case of the parties investigating themselves? "Another issue I campaigned about, as you know, was justice reform, which also implied a re- form of the Constitution. One of the things I argued was he Elec- toral Commission itself needed a reform. I agree, but where do you start? You can't just go ahead and change everything at once..." But how can we trust a body that is appointed by the parties, to investigate the parties? Does he himself have faith in the Electoral Commission, as it is today, to con- duct this investigation? "I wouldn't say I don't have faith. I do, to be honest. But that doesn't mean the Electoral Commission doesn't need to be reformed. I've said this time and again. But then you have to look at the reality: in 25 years under the PN, and before that under Labour we didn't have a party financing law at all. We had to build from the ground up. So we had to look at where we converged, where we had common ground. Now, we have this law. Are we bet- ter off for it? Is it is step in the right direction?" I agree with the direction; my concern is the pace we're walking at. It seems a small step to me... "I don't see it that way. Even the fact that there have already been apparent breaches... that means that the law is effective. Investiga- tions are being conducted by the competent authority. I remember when drawing up the bill, that there was some scepticism about which entity should be the regula- tor. But after consultation, it was not just my opinion that the Elec- toral Commission was the most adequate. It needs a reform, yes; it needs an arm with which to en- force this law. Wouldn't it have made more sense to reform the Electoral Com- mission first? After all, the Com- mission is not just there for the benefit of the parties. Why should the parties appoint the board members, anyway? Who repre- sents the ordinary voter? "I agree with those concerns; but if we went about it that way, we would have remained without a party financing law. That's the reality. The truth is that the Na- tionalist Party wasted five years in Parliament: we needed a reform of the Broadcasting Authority; a reform in how the President is ap- pointed; a reform in the electoral system... all along I've been saying these things, yet I was condemned and even expelled from the party for saying them." Well, much of those five years were spent without a parliamen- tary majority... Debono himself voted against the party line in a motion of confidence. The reality is also that the PN couldn't effect any of those reforms anyway, but its position in government wasn't secure enough... "But it lost its majority because it failed to implement those re- forms. Had Gonzi listened at the time, I don't think he would have ended up so badly. He ended up condemned by the electorate, pre- cisely because he didn't undertake those reforms. Like the justice reform. I even wrote it for him myself. But no, he stuck to Carm. What more could I have done? I was there: a backbencher. As you know, there are backbenchers who don't even go to parliament. But instead of just warming my seat, I decided to do all this work. The justice reform, the party financing act.... even the removal of crimi- nal libel. I had put it on the agenda. When you look at these reforms, many of which are now being im- plemented under Labour... what are they all about, anyway? They're about strengthening the country's institutions in a holistic manner. That is what I feel my contribu- tion was in my five years an MP. I initiated a systematic reform of all three pillars of the State..." Meanwhile, however, there is an- other side to the party financing debate... so far we have focused on all the ways parties should NOT be financed. What about widen- ing the debate to include alterna- tive funding? Once it is generally agreed that political parties are a necessary component of democ- racy, wouldn't it make sense to talk about funding them directly through the State? "I sincerely believe that that is the direction we should be moving in. But not before this law is seen to be observed. We cannot consider state financing before that. Let's be honest: What we're seeing now is a scandal. How can you turn to the taxpayer and expect him to finance a party that failed to introduce a party financing law in 25 years of government... and that is now see- ing how it can circumvent the new law through the Cedoli scheme, or even breaking it outright? Do you think it's the right moment? No, the important thing now is to build the structures to introduce a level of discipline: this way, the taxpayer can see for himself where his money is going, and how it is being spent. This law creates that structure. It's not perfect, but at least it's there. Now, once it is firmly in place and respected by and large, then we can talk about state financing. But not now. Now is the time to focus on enforcing the law." Interview The recent party financing scandal seems to underscore the fact that the Party Financing Law enacted last year has not to date been effective. Or does it? Law Commissioner and former Nationalist MP FRANCO DEBONO, who authored the original bill, argues the clean opposite