PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

108 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
A useful way of concluding this discussion on party financing is with a
couple of examples from our parliamentary submissions, which show a combination
of all the above legislative strategies. The constitutional revision of
2001 in Greece introduced an express provision on party and electoral
financing, as follows:
Political parties are entitled to receive financial support by the State
for their electoral and operating expenses, as specified by law. A statute
shall specify the guarantees of transparency concerning electoral
expenses and, in general, the financial management of political parties,
of MPs, parliamentary candidates and candidates for all degrees of
local government. A statute shall impose the maximum limit of
electoral expenses, may prohibit certain forms of pre-electoral promotion
and shall specify the conditions under which violation of the relevant
provisions constitutes a ground for the forfeiture of parliamentary
office on the initiative of the special body in the following section. The
audit of the electoral expenses of political parties and parliamentary
candidates is carried out by a special body which is constituted also
with the participation of senior judicial functionaries, as specified by
law. (Article 29 para.2).
As a constitutional amendment, the above article only sets out the basic
principles for legislation in this area. For a more detailed account of legislation
in practice, here is the description of an Act of 2004, provided by the
Canadian Parliament:
Until 2004, only candidates and political parties were required to disclose
to the Chief Electoral Officer the sources and amounts of contributions
received. Reporting obligations have now been extended to all
political participants, including candidates, political parties, electoral
district associations, leadership contestants and nomination contestants.
All political participants are now required to disclose any contribution
over $200……The source of potential political contributions
has also been changed. Previously, these could be made by individuals,
corporations, unions or other organisations and there were no limits
on the amounts of the contribution. Now, with some minor exceptions,
only individuals, that is citizens and permanent residents, are able to
make financial contributions to registered parties and to leadership
and nomination contestants. Contributions are also subject to an
annual limit of $5000.