It’s not a golden rule, and it is always broken.
Every five years, political candidates in Malta brazenly violate the laws governing electoral campaigning, which limit their individual spending on election campaigns to Lm600.
It is no secret that parties pour in hundreds of thousands of liri in their campaigns. The incessant telethons of banal entertainment and pandering on party TV stations rake anything between Lm70,000 to Lm120,000 every year for each party. Some of it finances their bankrupt operations – the rest is funnelled to the party campaign.
The law governing elections sets no limits to spending by a party on its general campaign, but the Lm600 limit is applicable for any sort of individual campaign – anything that promotes a sole candidate cannot exceed the threshold.
Had this law been enforced, the landscape of Maltese politics might have been somewhat different: few coffee mornings, certainly no spending on gimmicky soft toys as Francis Zammit Dimech did in 1996, and much less junk mail heaving through your letter box.
And almost certainly the en masse resignation of our MPs: because the law states that apart from a Lm200 pecuniary fine, any person who commits this illegal practice would be knocked off the voters’ register for the next four years and if elected, be vacated from their seat. It almost sounds like a big holiday.
Nationalist Party secretary-general Joe Saliba concedes the Lm600 limit is unrealistic considering modern campaigning, admitting that most candidates finance their own campaigns.
“The Lm600 threshold is not enough for a proper campaign but one mailshot per household should be enough to spread the name of the candidate. All candidates are obliged to declare everything by law whether it is their own monetary supply or sponsorship, however most candidates finance their own campaign to my knowledge.”
Prime Minister’s Lawrence Gonzi’s next Cabinet meeting is set to discuss the issue of party funding, and the discussion is certain to touch upon the funding of campaigns by candidates.
The Labour party is adopting a wait-and-see approach as evidenced by deputy leader and campaign guru Michael Falzon’s statement. “It is up to Government to propose and put forward any laws regarding the issue. ‘The ball is not in my court’ as the saying goes.
“Personally, I would have no problem in seeing such laws in place before the next general election. However, any sort of timeframe will have to be laid down by government.”
What change he envisages however is another matter. While saying his involvement in elections has never touched upon party candidates’ campaigning, he says he has no objection to a ‘more realistic’ spending threshold.
“I think it all depends of the particular district concerned, what sort of a campaign one aims for, what are one’s financial means, what kind of help one has available… Giving an arbitrary figure is not an easy answer. It is not in my style to force or dictate anybody to do anything. I believe much more in a democratic way of doing things. One has to see what developments occur and than regulate oneself accordingly.”
Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Harry Vassallo is surely more vociferous about the flouting of the election law, accusing those who have broken the law of perjury.
“There is no effective monitoring of the finances of the political parties. It has been obvious for many years that electoral finance reports have not been submitted or have been tampered in such a way that not everything is claimed.”
He says that for information to be public about how politicians finance their campaigns, the law must be enforced.
With little faith in the Prime Minister’s decision to discuss party funding ahead of a general election, Vassallo says little positive results have been forthcoming on the subject. “The electoral law is explicit in saying what should occur regarding financing including tax returns but nothing has ever been acted upon when the law was broken by the parties. Alternattiva Demokratika were prosecuted for failing to hand in a tax return on time. We did this to make a statement but had to appear in front of the magistrate, which just added insult to injury because no other party had ever been prosecuted.”
And former Nationalist MP Josie Muscat, who will field his far-right party in the next elections, says he wants a “real and true” accountability act for politicians and the Church.
“Finances must be accountable and all donations of more than Lm100 in one year should be recorded. I feel that the government is not governing Malta. Private contractors who are financing political parties are really the ones governing Malta.
“By not reporting all donations and costing in tax returns, the parties are abusing the donations and the people. I believe all financial accounts should be published and prove that these people are equal to the rest of the population and not above the law in any way.”

Related articles:
Buying votes, selling parties