PARTY FINANCING LAWS

Accusations of non-existent services rendered by the Opposition’s commercial entity Media Link to Silvio Debono’s db Group in order to circumvent party financing laws on donations could just be the tip of the iceberg.

The party financing law, proposed and enacted by the current government, stipulates that no party is allowed to receive donations by the same person/entity exceeding €25,000 in any given financial year. Party financing laws, especially when regulating a jurisdiction whose political parties survive purely on donations, are of extreme importance.

Large donations by big business run the extremely probable risk of influencing the decisionmaking process of a political party, more dangerously so if that party is in government and, on a more brazen level, could translate into donations-forpublic-tenders.

Mainstream parties and big business

Both the Labour Party (PL) and the Nationalist Party (PN) have been accused of being in bed with big business. As regards the PN that were in power for 25 years (bar a stint of two years by Alfred Sant’s MLP), and traditionally identify with a centreright ideology, have been known to be the more businessfriendly party.

After the 2013 general election, the PL is now overwhelmingly seen to be the more businessfriendly party. Confessions by former PL Deputy Leader Anġlu Farrugia shed light on big business seen participating in meetings on the infamous fourth floor of the Mile End fortress. This was in contrast to what happened in the past when people in big business felt uncomfortable being seen entering PL headquarters let alone inviting PL’s top brass on yachts or throwing parties for them in luxury hotels which were built under PN administrations, some of which used to be shacks or simply virgin shorelines.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat proudly said that he is Malta’s salesman and the rigorous measures adopted in order to mitigate unemployment, attract investment and push the economy meant that the PL was proud to be the new all-forbusiness, business-for-all party.

Generations of people have been scratching their heads as political parties are expected, in principle, not to be more sympathetic to big business, when the latter has, by and large, managed to keep the former afloat, relevant, and ensure that its workers get paid. The latest db Group/PN saga made certain people revisit the idea of state funding the political parties, similar to the German model, in order to avoid businesses being the invisible puppet masters of parties. PN leader Simon Busuttil may shout at the top of his voice that no business deal will tarnish his clean record of honest politics, but the bottom line is that the PN, just like the PL, keeps crawling to big business to help it fund its operations.

Can the party financing law really clean up the incestuous relationship between mainstream parties and big business?

The accusations about the PN are shocking because while everybody complains about the grip big business has on decision-making processes in Malta, the public was confronted with how this could happen in reality.

The party financing law does not allow for state funding the parties, which seems to be the logical step. How many more big-business entities could be having a similar agreement with the Opposition, or have had similar dubious arrangements with the PL when negotiating preelectoral promises? The green light granted by MEPA for the Gaffarena petrol station, which is in breach of several planning laws, to open its doors and conduct business after it had been shut down for years under the Gonzi administration may be a clear example of the relationship between the PL and the Gaffarenas prior to the 2013 election.

Are the Maltese ready to pay their taxes to fund political parties, in order for big business to loosen its grip? Is the cost of corrupt decision-making higher than the cost of funding mainstream parties ourselves? Would the state funding of political parties ease the influence of big business?

PN and good governance

The PN’s report on good governance, published in December 2015, dedicates only half a page to party financing. It applauds the government for proposing and ultimately enacting the party financing law, and even acknowledges its own failure to enact a similar law during the 25 years it was in power.

While the Opposition put forward meaningful suggestions and concerns regarding the law, some taken on board while others were dismissed, its entire section dedicated to what the PN would do should it be in power exclusively relate to the issue of “the Labour Party possess[ing] several public properties that had been taken over by the party for its use”.

In the wake of the saga revolving around db Group, whose chairman is Silvio Debono of the Seabank and San Antonio hotels,

Silvio Debono