Home > 2.6 Campaign finance > MALTA- Joint Opinion on the Draft Act to Regulate the Formation, the Inner Structures, Fuctioning and Financing of Political Parties and their Participation in Elections
 
 
 
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Paragraph 40
 

E. Rules on the financing of political parties


3. Independent oversight and enforcement


The draft Act places the Electoral Commission at the heart of the enforcement of its provisions. The Electoral Commission is appointed under Article 60 of the Constitution of Malta by the President of the Republic, “acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, given after he has consulted the Leader of the Opposition”. Members of the Electoral Commission may be removed from office by the President acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister[1] not only for inability to discharge their function but also for ‘misbehaviour’.[2] Thismanner of appointment and dismissal, in combination with the fact that members of the Electoral Commission are political appointees,[3] essentially, in spite of the high level of confidence that the Electoral Commission enjoys, calls into question the Electoral Commission’s objective independence from the executive. Consideration could thus be given to mandating another body with tasks related to political party and campaign financing, or to the creation of a new independent and impartial body charged with this task.


[1] Constitution of Malta, Article 60 par. 6.


[2] Constitution of Malta, Article 60 par. 7.


[3]OSCE/ODIHR Election Assessment Mission, p. 6.