PN insists funds raised during marathon were according to party financing law
● Questions remain unanswered
The Nationalist Party has insisted that the donations collected during its fundraising marathon earlier this month were in line with party financing law, but it has failed to provide any of the figures requested by The Malta Independent.
This newsroom asked for a list of donors who had given more than €50, and whether any influential businessmen or their companies had made a donation, including their respective figures.
During the marathon, the party’s deputy leader, Robert Arrigo, and its secretary-general, Clyde Puli, presented collections of €141,806 and €56,000, respectively, contributing to roughly a third of the total amount raised.
When taking into consideration the db Group debacle, which has landed the PN in court for breaching party financing legislation, and the party’s traditional ties to big business, there should be no surprise why doubts have been raised.
“Fundraising is an essential activity for any political party in Malta to meet its financial needs emerging out of normal political operations. In fact the Financing of Political Parties Act of 2014 regulates that activity without providing for state funding of parties,” a spokesperson said.
“It seems that certain questions by the press, albeit legitimate, seem to wrongly assume that party officials, members of parliament, local councillors, committee members and the party media are simply donors themselves when in fact they are receivers, on behalf of the political party they belong to, of donations from donors.
“No single donation collected exceeded the capping set in the party financing law and there is no reason to assume that the presentation of one collector comes from one source. Furthermore the collectors issue receipts to every single donor for every single donation.”
“The Nationalist Party is extremely pleased with the €620,319 that it raised during the December fundraising marathon. It was the best the PN managed in quite a few years and definitely since returning to the Opposition benches in 2013. These funds are not only essential for the party’s daily operations, but have also given a new boost of confidence to the party and its supporters.”
The newsroom has always made it clear in articles that both Robert Arrigo and Clyde Puli presented the donations, never implying that they were personally donating the money, and merely requested that the party provide the newsroom with the invoiced figures they are required to log by law, given that an individual (not to mention their family members) could give up to €7,000 each without the public ever knowing.