5 – Free political parties from private funders

A modern democracy cannot function without political parties.

They give the public a coherent policy program to choose at an election and they coalesce into workable teams that give us political stability.

Like any other democratic organ they are supposed to exist to serve the public interest without fear or favour. But we know it’s not that way.

We wouldn’t imagine that courts fund the cost of their business by collecting money from rich people.

Yet this is how we expect political parties to work: they pay their costs and their staff from money a few rich people give them.

Rich people expect something in return: that when the politicians they fund make office they take policy decisions that serve their interests, not the public’s.

This is why our political system has let construction go haywire. It is why they are so reluctant to enforce safety laws and people keep dying on construction sites.

Malta is one of the very few European democracies where the cost of running political parties is not an ordinary public expense.

The financing of political parties needs better oversight which must be independent of the parties themselves. The state should pay for most of the cost of political parties.

There should be limits on the amounts private contractors pay to fund political parties, and anyone trying to hide illicit donations should be jailed. 

Written by Manuel Delia
Video Production & Voiceover: Michael Kaden