The leaders of the parliamentary groups of the Party of Socialists, Party of Communists, Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party had a joint meeting with the delegation of the Venice Commission, OSCE/ODIHR and GRECO in connection with the formulation of the Venice Commission’s opinion on the legal framework on political party and election campaign funding in Moldova. The delegation also met separately with representatives of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party and of the European People’s Parliamentary Group, IPN reports.
After the meeting, the chairman of the Liberal-Democratic group Tudor Deliu said the delegation of the Venice Commission asked if the current legislation on party and election campaign funding ensures equity and asked for the parties’ opinion about the funding of parties by Moldovans who live and work abroad.
“I noted that the current provisions do not meet the realities. I reminded about the draft law adopted in 2015, when it was proposed that the voluntary donations made by private individuals should not exceed 20 average official salaries, while those made by legal entities 40 average salaries. We remember that someone added a zero overnight and now the law allows private individuals to donate 200 average salaries, while legal entities 400 salaries,” stated the Lib-Dem, noting that a donation of over 1 million lei results if we multiply 200 average official salaries by 5,600 lei.
According to Tudor Deliu, it is not right to ban Moldovans from the diaspora from supporting parties by donations as they are citizens of the Republic of Moldova who take part in elections. The Lib-Dems in May 2017 submitted a bill to modify the figures of 200 and 400 official salaries into 6 and 12, which is at most 33,600 lei for private individuals and at most 67,200 lei for legal entities. It was proposed that the Moldovans abroad should be allowed to donate the equivalent of at most three average salaries to parties.
Tudor Deliu said that in the meeting they suggested that the 0.2% of the state budget that is annually offered to parties based on the law on political party funding should be distributed propositionally for all the types of elections: parliamentary elections (33.3%), local elections (33.3%) and presidential elections (33.3%).
Sergiu Sarbu, secretary of the Democratic parliamentary group, told the journalists that he informed the delegation that the changes made to the legislation after 2015 reduced ten times the highest permitted amount of donations for parties or election campaigns from private individuals and legal entities. There were also developed financial reporting procedures for parties.
The Democratic MP said there are parties that insist on foreign financing, but the national legislation has banned direct or indirect funding from abroad for over 20 years. The external financing of a party is the most serious violation for a party, which can serve as a reason for its dismemberment. If an electoral competitor is funded from abroad during the election campaign, this risks being excluded from the electoral race. The fact that the origin of the money that comes from outside borders cannot be checked is a danger to Moldova’s security.
Valeriu Ghiletski, chairman of the European People’s Parliamentary Group, said he told the European experts that the group he heads does not want foreign financing to be allowed for parties and election campaigns. The delegation didn’t formulate proposals, but put a number of questions.
The Venice Commission will analyze the current legislation and the submitted appraisals and will then formulate recommendations.
