M. Campaign Financing

Article 70(2) of the draft law is of concern as it retains the current provision for cancellation of a candidate’s registration based on a campaign finance violation in excess of 0.5 per cent of a campaign limit. Under this provision, some violations of the procedures for campaign financing (e.g., overspending of 0.5 per cent of the limit for the candidate’s election related expenses) can result in the cancellation of candidacy. The OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission previously recommended that this cancellation provision be deleted from the law and replaced by a proportionate sanction, such as a fine bearing some relation to the amount of the overspending. The recommendation is not addressed.