Labour Party accounts in the dark, no strict application of electoral law

The Electoral Commission has still not received the Labour Party’s accounts for 2020, and is still reviewing the Labour Party’s accounts for 2019, over seven months after these were presented – woefully late – in March 2022.

The Electoral Commission has confirmed with MaltaToday that so far AD, PN, Imperium Europa, Għarb l-Ewwel, the Partit Popolari, and the defunct Partit Demokratiku, have all presented their accounts for 2020 and these are now being reviewed by the Commission’s auditors before being published.

“As soon as these reports are cleared by the Commission and by the auditors, these reports will be published accordingly,” chief Electoral Commissioner Joseph B Camilleri told MaltaToday.

But the Labour Party has so far not submitted its accounts.

The law regulating political party finances stipulates that parties have to present their accounts by not later than April of the next financial year, which means that in this case accounts should have been presented in 2021.

But the Commission cited a number of extensions granted to all political parties during the pandemic to explain the delay in the publication of these reports.

Moreover Labour’s accounts for 2019 – which were presented last March – are still being reviewed by the  Electoral Commission and are not available for public scrutiny. “This statement of accounts is still being reviewed internally, and shall be published on the Electoral Commission’s website as soon as the said review is finalised,” chief electoral commissioner Joseph B. Camilleri told MaltaToday.

By law these accounts should have been presented in 2020.

The Nationalist Party’s accounts for 2019, showing that the party had a deficit of €607,279, were published on the Electoral Commission’s website in May.

But the Labour Party has so far evaded public scrutiny of its financial situation as its accounts have yet to be published.

When reminded about the legal deadlines for the presentation of these reports, the Commissioner referred to the “various extensions of the statutory deadlines for the submission of the relative reports” granted, because political parties “could not convene their annual conferences/meetings which were to approve the reports in question.”

As things stand, the latest published accounts by the Labour Party date back to 2019; while the public still has no access to the accounts and donation reports of any party for 2020 and 2021.

No Cabinet asset lists

Earlier on Wednesday, the PN’s spokesperson for justice, Karol Aquilina, called out the Labour administration over the unacceptable delay in tabling ministers’ declaration of assets and interests in the House.

There is no set date for these asset declarations to be tabled in parliament, but the current delay is one of the longest in years.

Aquilina said Prime Minister Robert Abela had not yet published his declaration of interests and that of his ministers and parliamentary secretaries. “This is the longest delay ever in the publication of declaration of assets in the House. In a similar, unprecedented situation, former prime minister Joseph Muscat had not even published his declaration of assets for 2016,” Aquilina said.

Aquilina said Abela was promoting the same culture of “opacity and impunity”.

“The PN expects Abela to publish these declarations immediately for 2021. It is unacceptable that 2022 is practically over, and none of the Cabinet’s declaration of assets have been presented to the House as is their obligation.”

In the House, government Whip Andy Ellul opted for partisan arguments instead of saying why ministers have not yet submitted their asset declarations. No less than three Opposition MPs – Ivan Castillo, Beppe Fenech Adami and Mark Anthony Sammut – asked Ellul why the Prime Minister and his ministers had not yet submitted their asset declarations. However, each time, Ellul simply said ministers had no problem to submit their declarations... without saying when they will be doing so.