A draft law proposed with political consensus of the two major parties that aims to regulate the financing of political parties has been met with reservations by civil society experts, who say it does not meet expectations for transparency and accountability.
The majority and the opposition announced on Tuesday the political consensus reached in drafting a draft law on party financing within the framework of the new electoral reform initiated by the Assembly in the special bipartisan commission.
The initiative drafted by the commission's experts aims to establish a new legal basis for financing, administration, control, reporting and transparency, for the income and expenses that political parties realize during the calendar year and outside the election campaign.
The draft law provides for mechanisms for publishing financial data on the dedicated electronic platform of the CEC to allow the public to track transactions and expands the powers of this institution for in-depth verification of these reports.
In the area of restrictions on sources of funding, funding from foreign entities, entities with public contracts, persons with certain criminal records, anonymous donations, etc. are prohibited.
The prohibitions article is considered an article of fundamental importance for preventing unlawful influence and preserving political independence, according to the accompanying report of the initiative.
The list of permissible sources includes membership fees, donations, funding from the state budget, loans and other legal income, while administrative fines are provided for concealing funding.
Civil society organizations that monitor electoral processes and have been part of the drafting tables for this draft law express reservations about the new provisions, considering them a formality that does not ensure the essence of the financial transparency of political parties, their obligation to be accountable, and the avoidance of informal money.
Afrim Krasniqi from the Institute of Political Studies considers the draft only 50 percent fulfilling expectations in relation to the request for a law regulating the financing of parties and electoral campaigns in accordance with Article 9 of the Constitution, which establishes the obligation for transparency regarding expenditures and financing.
“The law does not implement this constitutional principle,” he told BIRN, adding that “it brings some positive elements, but they are insufficient.”
According to Krasniqi, the positive innovations are related to the restrictions on flows coming from third-party sources or businesses, but on the other hand, it does not create a guarantee that there will be a public database system for full transparency, it lacks the involvement of new justice structures in the exhaustive investigation of every denunciation that comes in, and it leaves tax and money laundering structures without a role.
Rigels Xhemollari from "Civic Stability" also considers the initiative as an administrative regulation of financial declaration and not a legal mechanism that can guarantee transparency and accountability.
"The law serves as a good administrative regulator and guide for the internal activities of political parties, but in my opinion, it remains up to the parties to implement it or not," he told BIRN.
Meanwhile, for Erida Skëndaj from the Albanian Helsinki Committee, the problem lies in the fact that the Albanian context was not taken into account in the drafting of the initiative, but only Croatian and Lithuanian legislation were referred to as comparative models.
"If we aim for a comprehensive and comprehensive reform of political party financing, a broader comparative legal perspective is required, taking as a model countries with consolidated democracies and those with political and electoral contexts similar to our country and that have marked a progressive trend in legal standards for political party financing," she told BIRN.
Monitoring and accountability are not guaranteed
Experts raise as problematic the provisions related to monitoring, accountability and investigation of sources of funding of political parties.
The designation of the Central Election Commission as the authorized body for monitoring and transparency of party finances is also seen as dysfunctional.
"The CEC has had this competence continuously and has failed to carry it out, so they should have found another model that is more functional and more independent of political parties, not a structure appointed by political parties," says Krasniqi.
For Xhemollarin, enforcement mechanisms with administrative fines are also insufficient to guarantee transparency from parties.
"A fine of 1,000 euros is negligible for political parties that are funded from one hundred to 900,000 euros from public money," he adds.
Xhemollari also expresses reservations about the role of the CEC in the process, raising questions about this institution's ability to monitor it.
According to him, "the CEC should be proactive in monitoring the finances of parties, which it has not demonstrated so far and I do not believe it has the ability and human resources to conduct this investigation."
The consensual draft law on parties does not address the relations between political parties and the media, which for civil society experts leaves room for abuse.
According to Krasniqi, the initiative lacks provisions related to past wrong practices, such as funding received through media purchase or media control or other elements of public influence with an impact on electoral campaigns and political life, as well as funding through the diaspora, without being verified in the declaration structures of the Albanian state.
Even for Xhemollari, the new initiative does not prevent agreements between television stations and parties, between singers and parties, between in-kind bidders and parties, agreements that, according to him, "turn out to be agreements that cost a lot not to the parties, but to the state budget after the parties take power."
Uncertainty about the initiative's consultation process
The initiative was not immediately included for consideration in the Assembly after the committee decided on Tuesday that the draft should go through a consultation phase with civil society, while organizations also complain about a lack of transparency in the drafting of the initiative and are skeptical of the parties' expectations of consultation on the draft.
"We are facing a fait accompli and based on previous practices, the chances for corrective interventions depending on the recommendations coming from civil society and other actors are minimal," says Krasniqi, considering it "a missed opportunity" for electoral reform if the initiative is approved in the form proposed by the two major parties.
While Skëndaj adds that the explanatory report of the draft law highlights in a very general way only the recommendations and findings of international organizations, while domestic organizations that monitor electoral processes are not mentioned.
"If the ODIHR has suggested a comprehensive electoral reform, the aim has not been to refer only to international actors but also to local civil society organizations, electoral experts in the field, small political parties, etc.," she adds.
According to Skëndaj, the draft law was drafted very quickly from the time the special committee held a hearing on the public consultation process for its structure, and none of the suggestions of the civil society actors present at that roundtable were cited in the report, while he also sees the consultation initiated by the committee on the draft as unclear.
"The Electoral Reform Commission must provide greater transparency for the entire drafting and consultation process, otherwise the perception that Electoral Reform continues to remain the monopoly of the two main political parties will accompany this process as well," she concludes. /BIRN/
