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Party Financing and Democracy

There’s one MP in the house who has maintained a constant position with regard party financing. In an article appearing in today’s papers Franco Debono reiterates his call for proper regulation of party financing while drawing on international reports that describe how failed regulation leads to “trading in influence”. We publish the article in its entirety here as another Zolabyte with the kind permission of the author. General Franco strikes again!

Some months ago, while being interviewed on public television (Dissett), I had described the issue of political party financing as extremely urgent and a priority. I strongly argued that the issue should be tackled immediately, considering its direct bearing on our country’s democracy. The interviewer had dismissed my claims to urgency, apparently comforted by the fact that the issue was, at the time, being tackled by a parliamentary committee.

Recent events have, since, brought work in that committee to a standstill. Moreover, about 15 years ago and we were, compared to most countries, already late, a report (the Galdes Report, 1995) had been tabled in the House of Representatives but still, to date, nothing has come out of it. Since then, no significant developments have taken place and no concrete measures have been implemented with regard to the issue under discussion.

The issue of party finance is crucial and central to any democracy in this day and age.

As the Council of Europe’s Third European Conference of Specialised Services in the Fight against Corruption, held between September 28-30, 1998, had declared: “…political parties play an essential role in democratic systems.

“Their operation requires appropriate resources while electoral campaigns have become expensive. Faced with increasing expenses, political parties are unable to live only on their members’ fees and have to solicit and accept donations. Trading in influence has, thus, developed. In order to remedy this situation, which is detrimental to the rule of law and democracy, it is necessary to ensure political parties are financed in a wholly transparent manner.”

Political parties are challenged today with complex tasks, including researching and developing relevant and updated policies as well as communicating their message in the best possible manner in order to garner maximum support and win elections. Such tasks necessitate a sound structural organisation and infrastructure, which cannot be put in place and function without adequate financial resources.

The process of securing the necessary funds could lead to abuse. Parties could potentially end up at the mercy of particular donors who may seek to exert control through undue or unlawful influence. Legislation all over the world has been enacted precisely with the aim of averting such jeopardy and limit the dangers to democracy.

Since political parties are not just voluntary organisations accountable solely to their members, but organs of a constitutional nature and relevance, the necessary legislation tackling the most urgent issue of disclosure and public auditing of parties’ finances should be enacted. Strengthening democracy means ensuring political parties are financed in an accountable and transparent manner.

Thus, the Galdes Report, tackles such issues as whether there should be a ceiling on private donations, whether donations exceeding a certain amount should be prohibited and sums exceeding which amount should import a duty of disclosure.

In the United States, disclosure of small amounts by small donors was held by the Supreme Court to potentially seriously infringe on the rights to privacy and association and belief and, thus, one must always strive to strike a balance.

Tackling the issue of eligibility for state financing, linked primarily to the number of votes obtained by a party in the previous general election, the Galdes Report again establishes the requirement of the compulsory publication of financial statements and accounts, as well as disclosure of particular donations, exceeding certain amounts. It proposes strict penalties in cases of default or non-observance, enforced by a regulatory and supervising authority to be established under the same proposed legislation.

The report had, for instance, also tackled the issue of candidates’ expenses during election campaigns, which amount, just under €1,400, 15 years and four elections ago was deemed too low and unrealistic. It was suggested that it should be increased, in addition to proposing a more realistic definition of the relevant period preceding an election. We are still debating this today and nothing concrete has as yet materialised.

This aspect of transparency is important too.

It is time to rethink the structure and internal organisation and set-up of political parties as constitutional vehicles. It is time to think about the relevance of political party stations today. It is a time of great challenges where we must continue to revise and upgrade the constitutional architecture for the future.

As has always happened under successive Nationalist Administrations, we must continue strengthening democracy and this is the next step.

It is time to pass from reports and committees to action and legislation. And we must continue on the good work being done in public broadcasting , upgrading it too.

Dr Debono wrote his doctoral thesis for the law degree on The Constitutional Implications Of Party Organisation And Party Finance (1999).

Website: www.francodebono.info

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Zolabytes is a rubrique on J’accuse – the name is a nod to the original J’accuser (Emile Zola) and a building block of the digital age (byte). Zolabytes is intended to be a collection of guest contributions in the spirit of discussion that has been promoted by J’accuse on the online Maltese political scene for 5 years.

Opinions expressed in zolabyte contributions are those of the author in question. Opinions appearing on zolabytes do not necessarily reflect the editorial line of J’accuse the blog. Accompanying images selected by J’accuse.
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Arts Politics

50 minutes with Žižek

We’re hooked (thanks David). This guy is interesting if not anything else. While we are busy booking his tomes from play.com we will continue our vlogging trend with a 50 minute clip with Slavoj Zizek from a Dutch programme called backlight. Find a 50 minute break (lunch?) sit back, listen and react.

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Arts

Scatology & Ideology

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek in Liverpool.
Image via Wikipedia

So here it is. Flagged originally by DF on facebook I couldn’t resist posting this short lecture by Slavoj Zizek. His scatological examination of different ideologies is already impressive in its absurd simplicity but just wait for the pubic hair analysis to be absolutely convinced. You will never again flush the toilet in the same way.

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Admin

The Calm & The Storm

Cover of "Léon: The Professional (Theatri...
Cover via Amazon

It’s a blog. Not a professional newspaper. We “opinionate”, we rarely (if ever) “report”. We blogcomb and we recycle with an input of opinions. That is why when summer comes – the silly season – the blog tends to aestivate in its own way. Travels and trips and holidays mean that notwithstanding advanced technology that could allow us to blog from anywhere we prefer to lay back and recharge the mental battery. It’s not like the summer season helps much anyway. Not with the kind of news it tends to throw at us. Were it not for DimechGate this summer would have gone by without much of a squeak.

The becalmed waters of somniferous summer have now been whipped up into a veritable storm. We enjoyed the magnetic calm last week as we could feel the storm coming. From the rekindled divorce discourse, to the faith vs reason, to fireworks and local councils we are now once again pressed for blogging time. As the first rains of the wet season began to fall on the Grand Duchy this morning we thought of that calm moment before the storm – and Gary Oldman‘s “Stansfield” in the ’94 movie “Léon” came to mind:

Stansfield: I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It’s like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin’ and you can hear the insects. Do you like Beethoven?
Malky: I couldn’t really say.

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Mediawatch

Gunpowder, Reason and Plot

Fireworks were invented in China and their original purpose was to scare off evil spirits. The next step up from the manufacture of fireworks would be the creation of gunpowder – the deadly explosive concotion with the power to take life away. The basic chemistry behind fireworks is the same chemistry behind fireworks. While one form of the concotion is used to illuminate the night sky with maravillious colours of Gandalfian beauty the other is a minister of death and disaster and to fuel the dangerous power at the end of barrels from the blunderpuss all the way to the magnum and colt. There you have it.. power harnessed and power uncontrolled.

on the history of the firework

A Chinese monk named Li Tian, who lived near the city of Liu Yang in Hunan Province, is credited with the invention of firecrackers about 1,000 years ago. The Chinese people celebrate the invention of the firecracker every April 18 by offering sacrifices to Li Tian. During the Song Dynasty, the local people established a temple to worship Li Tian. The firecrackers, both then and now, are thought to have the power to fend off evil spirits and ghosts that are frightened by the loud bangs of the firecrackers. Firecrackers are used for such purposes today at most events such as births, deaths and birthdays. Chinese New Year is a particularly popular event that is celebrated with firecrackers to usher in the new year free of the evil spirits. (history of fireworks)

on europe and the firework

Generally Marco Polo is credited with bringing the Chinese gunpowder back to Europe in the 13th century, although some accounts credit the Crusaders with bringing the black powder to Europe as they returned from their journeys. Once in Europe, the black powder was used for military purposes, first in rockets, then in canons and guns. Italians were the first Europeans who used the black powder to manufacture fireworks. Germany was the other European country to emerge as a fireworks leader along with Italy in the 18th century. It is interesting to note that many of the leading American display companies are operated by families of Italian descent such as the Grucci family, Rozzi family, and Zambelli family. (history of firework continued)

on firework factory explosions

Too many words have been spent. Futile speech and hypocritical mourning for “heros” whose lives suffer the ugliest of clichés – going up in smoke. In a country that is buried in ignorance, that champions populism and that is run by proxy there is not much to hope for. Only last week we celebrated our brethren winning some concours in Spain for firework production. Only last week the Mosta blast was buried beneath the rubble of short-term memory and swept under the convenient carpet of forgetfulness.  And now the country mourns again. A family. A whole branch of a family tree is buried under yet another nonsensical blast. From grandfather to unborn child – they have all vanished in one big bang that shook the West. The nearby chapel of Saint Dimitri brought little solace. The balkan Saint did not ride to bring the Farrugia’s to safety as he had done for Zgugina’s son many moons ago. And the Xaghra feast will go on as usual.

on spin, (t)reason and slash and burn

Legislation is lacking. Defective chemicals or no defective chemicals the regulatory lacuna is as huge as the new hole in GHarb’s grounds. Over twenty years of nationalist government and we will still be crossing our fingers come next festa season. There are no balls to tackle the problem and the worst part of it is that the spinmasters come a-scrambling over the dead bodies of the latest fallen as soon as they see a new opportunity to shoot at the opposition. It appears that Joseph Muscat’s father is one of the importers of the chemicals used to make fireworks. We are now one step short of blaming Joseph Muscat for the explosion. it is clear as crystal now – the PN government has not taken firm action to regulate (or eliminate?) the firework industry because it would (obviously) find no support from labour since Joe’s daddy imports the goods (obviously).  Excuse the sarcastic brackets but even if that were true I’d expect PN to be strong enough and take the decision with or without Labour’s go-ahead. But they cannot can they? Because it’s not just Joseph’s daddy. It’s many many a money pushing peasant who cannot live without the smell of burnt fireworks during festa season. And what would PN coffers be without the firework lobby? Most PN MPs would not be in parliament would they? Are we sure it’s just Joseph’s daddy that is stopping spineless politicians from taking a firm stand? Bah.

on the light fantasticke

In Strasbourg last month I witnessed a beautiful, breathtaking lightshow that went on every night illuminating the monumental cathedral. The son et lumière (that’s light and sound) show had everybody lost for words as fifteen minutes of lights playing on the facade and from within the church while classical music filled the square proved that not much is lost when fireworks are foregone. The biggest risk with a light show in the village piazza is the non-collaboratorial cock-up by Enemalta and the power suppliers. It’s time to think lateral. The firework industry needs to start paying for the damage. Already the residents of Gharb are looking for compensation for the damage wrought by the latest explosion.

How long before houses are shook to the ground and the firework war takes its first “civilian” victim? Will that be enough for the government to take firmer action? Will it be enough to stop the spinmongers jumping on the let’s blame Joseph for everything wagon? Frankly I do not give two hoots about what Joseph thinks or what his interests may be. If he were to stoop so low as to back the firework lobby for the sake of private interests then that would only reaffirm many suspicions on the politics of opportunism that seems to be rampant in the PL – but let us not lose the main focus. We have a government that governs with a majority thanks to the rules of the game. If that government really has the goodwill of the people at heart then it should not be relying on its spin machine to deviate attention but it should be taking concrete action. Now.

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Zolabytes

Sliema: Reaping what was sown

AD Chairman and Michael Briguglio has given J’accuse permission to reproduce this article in the Zolabytes section. We consider it a further contribution on the current debate on Local Councils and an insiders insight on the mechanisms operating behind LC politics. Mike blogs regularly at Mike’s Beat (see j’accuse blogroll – we’re kicking that off again slowly slowly).

Sliema is really getting what it deserves. I am sorry to say this but the last local council elections were a clear example of how, at times, factors that have little to do with political vision influence electoral results. In a few words, Sliema is now reaping what was sown. I might be biased in saying this, given that I was not elected in 2009, having been elected in 2003 and 2006. But I invite others to contradict my statements below.

Beyond the battle between the official Nationalist Party position, the Nikki Dimech faction and the strange alliances of certain Labour councillors, one has to view the whole “Sliema” issue holistically.

Given the lack of proper legislation on financing of electoral campaigns, it is no surprise that political clientelism and business interests play a key role in Maltese politics even at a local level. Indeed, if one looks at the last local election in Sliema it would be very difficult to believe that all candidates’ electoral expenses were within the allowed limits. Many residents to this day tell me it is more than obvious that local elections are not based on a democratic and just level playing field.

In the last council election, one could witness social events such as receptions, the systematic provision of transport for elderly voters, electoral promises to various constituents that have nothing to do with political vision, telephone campaigns of the “Big Brother is watching you” type and so forth. There surely was no level playing field among all candidates.

This was even evident in the character-assassination-whispering-campaigns, at times between candidates belonging to the same party.

Given that Malta has practically no legislation regarding the financing of political parties, this necessarily leads to pressure from business interests for political favours. Hence, it is imperative that contracts awarded by local councils are properly scrutinised.

It is precisely for this reason that when I was councillor I consistently proposed having a contracts manager. I was supported by PN councillor Julian Galea on this… yet a decision by the council was consistently postponed.

Having professional administrative staff is imperative for efficient local councils. Yet, the present council apparently thought otherwise as one of its first decisions was to oust executive secretary Josef Grech.

The work of Mr Grech, his staff and of certain councillors, who, in previous years, did their best to ensure that Sliema’s voice was heard and who worked as a team, was basically discarded.

As for myself, in my six years as councillor I worked as hard as possible to help improve the quality of life in Sliema. I gave priority to issues such as public consultation, sustainable development, the impact of construction on the community, waste management, pollution, public transport, swimming and animal welfare. I worked well with coun­cillors irrespective of their political affiliation and I often managed to convince both Nationalist and Labour council members on various issues.

Well, actually, in my eyes, there were “four” political parties in the council, namely, Green, Labour, the PN “Pullicino faction” and the PN “Arrigo faction”. Perhaps the most surreal experience of all was when certain PN councillors objected that the council should praise the government for the reclaiming and embellishment of St Anne Square!

I thought I would get my best result ever in 2009 but the opposite happened. I was obviously disappointed and I was about to quit politics, feeling a sense of freedom in the process… But, as philosopher Louis Althusser tells us, “the future lasts a long time” … Indeed, I changed my mind after a few weeks and ended being elected AD chairman.

Whenever I am stopped by Sliema residents who complain about all sorts of issues, I remind them of a powerful tool they still possess – the vote.

If you want change, vote for it…

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Zolabytes is a rubrique on J’accuse – the name is a nod to the original J’accuser (Emile Zola) and a building block of the digital age (byte). Zolabytes is intended to be a collection of guest contributions in the spirit of discussion that has been promoted by J’accuse on the online Maltese political scene for 5 years.

Opinions expressed in zolabyte contributions are those of the author in question. Opinions appearing on zolabytes do not necessarily reflect the editorial line of J’accuse the blog.
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