Daphne foundation: Hidden money, behind-the-scenes influence warp political decision-making

Hidden money and behind-the-scenes influence warp political decision-making in Malta, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation said, asserting that this hands out disproportionate power to a select few while voters remain in the dark about who is shaping the policies and political priorities that affect their lives. 

In a statement released on Tuesday, the foundation put forward a series of legal reforms ensuring the transparency of political parties’ funding sources and campaign spending.

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation proposed the extension of political parties’ obligation to submit annual audited financial accounts to the Electoral Commission to include the companies owned by the parties.

Additionally, the foundation called for the Electoral Commission to be provided adequate powers and resources to engage in efficient investigations and enforcement of political finance regulations, including through fines on political parties who do not submit their financial statements by the required deadline.

It added that the Electoral Commission should be given a wider mandate and equipped with the adequate powers needed to carry out efficient election monitoring, to investigate reported misconduct relating to elections, and to enforce effective sanctions where necessary.

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation insisted that the Financing of Political Parties Act should be amended to require all donations exceeding €100 to be recorded in a database which is freely accessible to the general public.

The General Elections Act should also be amended to require all election expenses to be published online in a timely manner following an election, the foundation explained, adding that this data must remain available to the public for at least two months.

Finally, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation insisted that legislative amendments must be introduced to provide equal access to vote counting for all political parties, along with adequate citizen and international observation of the activities of the Electoral Commission.

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation referenced research by Amphora Media, which confirmed that representatives for Malta’s smaller political parties do not have the same degree of access to real-time vote counts as larger parties. They also referred to a report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the 2022 elections, which insisted that this inconsistency reduces the transparency of the electoral process.

The foundation pointed out that while parliament can only pass legal changes once it reconvenes after the 30 May election, the Electoral Commission does not have this restraint. By updating certain existing practices, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation noted that the commission can take immediate steps to improve transparency in the upcoming election.

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation explained that currently, candidates’ campaign expenses are accessible to the public only for a two-week period after the election result has been published. To help safeguard the public’s right to transparency, the campaign said that the Electoral Commission has the power to extend the period for public inspection to two months or longer, noting that this does not require a change in the law.

The campaign added that the Electoral Commission is already empowered to enable all parties to have sufficient and equal access to real-time vote counts which would increase the scrutiny of the electoral process.