The financing of political parties has always plagued the image of the democratic process in Mauritius. Successive governments have promised measures to render this system more transparent and make political parties accountable regarding the obscure source of their finances.
Legislations regulating elections are deemed to be outdated and have led to debates about the need for an electoral reform to make amends. The current government has set up a ministerial committee on electoral reforms chaired by the deputy prime minister Xavier Duval. This week, the committee released a summary of its proposals for the control of funding of political parties and electoral campaigns. Same is reproduced below.
Accountability and Transparency
Accountability and transparency should be the underlying principles with regard to the funding of political parties. The aim is to prevent undue influence, corruption, and misuse of public assets, arising from the provision of financial resources in the political arena. The objective is also to prevent monies donated to a political party being appropriated by unauthorised persons, including office bearers. According to research conducted, around 88% of countries in the world (143 countries) have some form of financial reporting on the part of political parties. In line with international practice, the Committee recommends mandatory registration of all political parties with the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC). The ESC would be endowed with sufficient powers and resources to supervise, verify, investigate and, if necessary, recommend legal proceedings against offending political parties. Registered political parties would be required to submit to the Electoral Supervisory Commission annual audited accounts, including disclosure of information on sources of funding, and amounts received as donations and names of donors. These accounts would be available for consultation by the public.Sources of funding
Donations from religious groups, parastatal bodies and any enterprise where the State has a shareholding, would be prohibited. The Committee however recommends that the following types of funding be allowed:State Funding
In order to ensure fairness in the electoral process, and to reduce dependency on private sources of funding, it was agreed that provision be made for State funding to political parties and candidates taking part in National Assembly elections. According to research, around 68% of countries in the world provide for direct public funding to political parties. This can be provided either prior to an election or on a post-election basis. In order to avoid any unfairness or arbitrariness in the calculation of funds to be allocated to political parties and candidates, the Committee opines that funding should be allocated on a post-election basis, pro-rata according to percentages of votes obtained by any political party nationally. For individual candidates, the funding would be pro-rata according to the percentage obtained by each candidate in each constituency. To enable funding to be channelled directly to political parties, rather than to electoral alliances, appropriate amendments will be required to the electoral voting process. This matter will be dealt with when the subject of electoral reform is considered by the Committee. Such post-election funding is common in the majority of countries practising State funding. These countries include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. The Committee proposed the following eligibility criteria for State funding: Registered political parties which obtain at least 10% of the total number of votes cast nationwide (excluding Rodrigues), would be eligible to share the funds allocated on a pro-rata basis. A separate and similar calculation would be effected for the constituency of Rodrigues. Candidates standing in National Assembly elections would become eligible for State funding provided they obtain at least 10% of the total number of votes polled in their respective constituencies. It was recommended that for each National Assembly general elections, an appropriate amount be provided as funding to eligible registered political parties on mainland Mauritius and in Rodrigues. A similar amount would be distributed to eligible candidates for mainland Mauritius, and in Rodrigues, according to criteria proposed above.Private Funding
On the issue of funding from private sources, the Committee agreed that political parties should be able to receive funding from private individuals and corporate bodies subject to appropriate transparency and disclosure rules. The Committee opines that individuals and corporate bodies should be able to donate to political parties without a specified limit (as is the case in around 73% of countries in the world). With the stringent disclosure rules being advocated, it is felt that public opinion would act as a deterrent to abnormally large donations. Political donations made in expectation of political or financial advantage should be banned. The rules for political funding should not fall foul of provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.Anonymous donations
In order to give protection to small donors who could face harassment if their political sympathies became known, the Committee agreed that any donation received from an anonymous source should be allowed but limited to a maximum of Rs 50,000 per donation. It was also deemed unadvisable to limit the number of anonymous donations to a political party, being given that each individual donation will be of a relatively small value. It is thought unlikely that there will be much abuse of this provision.Overseas funding
The Committee recommends that donations from foreign sources should be prohibited (as is the case in around 36% of countries worldwide), with the exception of donations from individuals up to a specified amount of Rs 1 million per donation per year.Expenditure Limits
In order to further limit the role of money in politics, the Committee proposed a maximum amount of election expenses to be incurred in respect of a candidature, which are shown at Annex 1. With respect to local government elections, the Committee considered the possibility of distinguishing ‘large’ villages from ‘small’ villages, based on electorate size, or introducing an expenditure limit for candidates that would be proportional to the number of voters rather than having a flat rate. These proposals were, however, not retained. It was also suggested that although political parties do not currently take part in Village Council elections, there should be appropriate provision in the law to cover that possibility. Hence, a limit of Rs 1 million per party per District Council was found appropriate. The Committee agreed that, with regards to the proposed expenditure limit of Rs 100,000 for Rodrigues elections, the views of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly would be sought. The Committee also proposes that adequate sanctions and penalties be included in the legislation to discourage flouting of the above provisions, which would include loss of seat, ineligibility for election and imprisonment.
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