PAS suggests mechanism for financing political parties

02.10.2017 13:03
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The Party “Action and Solidarity” (PAS) suggests a new mechanism for financing political parties so that the upper limit of donations does not exceed two average official salaries a year, which is about 10,000 lei, IPN reports.

In a news conference, PAS leader Maia Sandu voiced hope that there will be MPs who will promote this proposal as a legislative initiative. The conception proposed by the PAS will be transmitted to the Venice Commission and this will be requested to help make the Government of Moldova to cap the donations to political parties in Moldova. The funding of parties with a lot of money, which is dirty, poses the biggest threat to the democratic process and this happens in the Democratic Party (PDM) and other parties.

Maia Sandu noted that the Democratic Party during the past two years illegally collected 47 million lei from donors and this sum exceeds the limit set by the regulations of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

PAS jurist Sergiu Litvinenco said that a court in September annulled the regulations approved by the CEC in January 2016. The court’s decision does not have a retroactive effect and the CEC should oblige the Democratic Party to transfer the sums gathered between January 2016 and September 2017 to the state budget. If the CEC fulfills its obligations and the sums collected illegally by parties are transferred to the state budget, the costs for the upcoming parliamentary elections will be almost fully covered.

In the conference, there was presented a presupposed scheme by which the Democratic Party collects funds. The commissions for public procurement contracts won by companies close to members of the PDM is collected in cash and is then legalized by formal donations to this party made by different public functionaries. Afterward, the money collected by the PDM in cash is used to pay for promotion at the TV channels owned by Vlad Plahotniuc, who thus not only promotes the party he heads, but also makes profit.

The Democratic Party hasn’t commented on the statements of the PAS so far.