Franco Debono piloting report for tripartite discussions on party financing

Nationalist MP Franco Debono has been entrusted by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to compile a report that would serve as a basis to initiate tripartite talks to legislate on party financing.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Franco Debono who is also Parliamentary Assistant at the Office of the Prime Minister said that he is in the process of compiling a detailed report for the Prime Minister, whereby he will be proposing the initiation of talks towards “incremented legislation” on party financing.

Debono, who has written a university thesis on party financing has been a long-time advocate on the issue, said there was “urgent need” of legislation to address the aggravating public perception on corruption.

The MP will be using the 15 year-old Galdes Report as a basis to his proposals and will recommend the inclusion of the Green Party (Alternattiva Demokratika) in the talks.

It is yet unclear if the talks will be held within an ad-hoc parliamentary committee, but Franco Debono stressed that he will “ensure that talks will happen.”

Speaking in Zebbug last Sunday, the Prime Minister said that he intends to see a party financing law in place “before the next general election.”

His remarks came in the wake of reports published in MaltaToday that revealed how beleaguered contractors JPM Brothers Limited issued cheques to finance Minister Tonio Fenech’s political campaign. Fenech has denied any knowledge of the donations.

Franco Debono argues that "since political parties are not just voluntary organisations accountable solely to their members, but organs of a constitutional nature and relevance, the necessary legislation tackling the most urgent issue of disclosure and public auditing of parties’ finances should be enacted. “

He added that  the Galdes Report, tackles such issues as whether there should be a ceiling on private donations, whether donations exceeding a certain amount should be prohibited and sums exceeding which amount should import a duty of disclosure.

The Galdes Report also established the requirement of the compulsory publication of financial statements and accounts, as well as disclosure of particular donations, exceeding certain amounts. It proposed strict penalties in cases of default or non-observance, enforced by a regulatory and supervising authority to be established under the same proposed legislation.