News | Sunday, 12 July 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

MEP candidates' campaign overspending

AG evasive, Electoral Commission not bothered

Raphael Vassallo
PN candidate Edward Demicoli does not appear to have ruffled too many feathers with his frank admission to have exceeded the legal limit for personal campaign expenditure by a staggering €30,000.
Maltese electoral law stipulates a maximum limit of Lm600 (€1,300) per district in a general election, or €18,170 when applied to the European parliamentary elections – when Malta and Gozo are considered one single district.
Demicoli has admitted to having spent over €58,000 on his personal campaign: more than triple the permissible amount.
All candidates have now until next Friday (17 July) to declare their campaign expenses under oath, but Demicoli has already signalled that he has no intention of committing perjury – echoing concerns raised by other candidates, including fellow PN hopeful Alan Deidun, that the public oath taking ceremony has become little more than a festival of political hypocrisy.
But despite allegations of a “bought” election – including a court case instituted by unsuccessful independent candidates Emmy Bezzina and Norman Lowell, who argue that the entire election should be invalidated as a result – there appears to be no hurry on the part of the authorities to investigate the matter.
Attorney General Silvio Camilleri was evasive this week when asked whether his office intends to recommend criminal action against Demicoli for breaking electoral law, or even if any investigation is envisaged into the campaign spending of other candidates.
“My office will in all cases take such action falling within its competence as and when opportune as circumstances and the law dictate,” Dr Camilleri said.
Elsewhere, the Electoral Commission appears completely unfazed by the implications that well-heeled individuals could simply secure their place in the European parliament through illegal campaign funding.
“The Commission has not met since the election,” secretary Joseph Calleja said curtly when contacted by telephone. “There is no scheduled meeting to discuss the matter,” Calleja said, adding that the issue does not fall within the Commission’s competence.

rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt

Election annulled?
Campaign overspending: the possible scenarios

Theoretically, the existence of a legal limit to campaign expenditure is supposed to create a level playing field among individual candidates. Similar limits exist in other European democracies, but what makes Malta’s case unusual is the low amount stipulated: an anachronism dating back several decades, and which (according to the system’s critics) has been routinely flouted by political parties since the 1980s.

What are the consequences of breaking the law in this instance? Legal experts who spoke to MaltaToday explained that the matter is not as clear-cut as it may at first appear.

Electoral law spells out a number of corrupt practices which could suffice to overturn an election result. These include the use or threat of force to intimidate voters, as well as “spiritual sanctions” of the kind imposed by Archbishop Michael Gonzi in 1960, when it was declared a mortal sin to vote for the Malta Labour Party.
However, campaign overspending as such is not listed specifically as a corrupt practice which can, if proven in court, automatically render an election result null and void.

“In this case, the plaintiffs would have to prove that the overspending was such that it influenced the outcome of the election,” one lawyer said.

From this perspective it is unlikely that the election result will be overturned as a result of Demicoli’s admission. A likelier scenario, according to legal experts, is that Government will simply abrogate the existing campaign expenditure law and introduce a new, more realistic maximum amount.

Unlike a propositive legal change, such an abrogation could be applied retroactively to absolve all MEP candidates of any wrongdoing.

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.

All the interviews from Reporter on MaltaToday's YouTube channel.

EDITORIAL

INTERVIEW