Home > 2.6 Campaign finance > MOLDOVA - Joint Opinion on the Legal Framework of Governing the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns
 
 
 
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Paragraph 49
 

The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR delegation was concerned to hear from several interlocutors that recent reforms had made it difficult for certain opposition parties to secure adequate funding through donations. They explained this by referring to the unclear situation regarding cash donations (see above) and to administrative burdens and obstacles (e.g. smaller parties at times did not have enough cashiers to confirm donations in the form required by Article 26(2) of the LPP, banks did not always indicate the donor identity in the bank document as required by the same provision, donations by electronic means such as the Internet or SMS were not permitted, and the organisation of fundraising activities by political parties was extremely cumbersome since parties were treated as commercial entities). Finally, interlocutors noted that potential donors were intimidated and afraid of supporting opposition parties, given the fact that all donations – and the identity of donors – are publicly disclosed (cf. Article 29(3) and (4) of the LPP). According to some civil society representatives, donations to certain parties have practically stopped in recent years. This is a worrying development which needs to be addressed, without calling into question the general approach of recent reforms to increase transparency in political financing. It is therefore recommended that legal measures be taken to facilitate donations to and fundraising by political parties, for example by regulating that donations may be made electronically and that the identity of donors in case of – clearly defined – small donations is not disclosed to the public but only to the CEC. This would still be compatible with GRECO’s recommendation to require that all donations received by political parties “that exceed a given amount”, as well as the identity of the donors, are disclosed and made public.