Home > 6 Political parties > TUNISIA - Opinion on the Draft Institutional Law on the Organisation of Political Parties and their Funding
 
 
 
Download file    
 
 
Paragraph 36
 

It is commendable that the rules on private contributions, relating to certain prohibitions and ceilings, should apply to all aid, gifts, donations, bequests in kind and to voluntary services which is in line with international standards: for example, Article 2 of Rec(2003)4states that the definition of donation should include “any deliberate act to bestow advantage, economic or otherwise, on a political party”. It is also to be welcomed that any political party is required to have a single bank or postal account to carry out all its financial transactions, and that all its financial transactions of a value greater than TND 500 (approximately €165) shall be made by bank transfer or by bank or post office cheque. Finally, the draft lawprovides for limits on donations to parties, which is encouraged by international standards, and also for membership fees and party borrowing from banks and financial institutions, which may prevent the circumvention of the limits on donations, in line with international recommendations. The fact that the reform increases the various ceilings (e.g. TND 100 000 – approximately €33 000 instead of TND 60 000 - approximately €19 800 for annual contributions from an individual) does not call for any special observations; in this context, the effects of inflation since 2011 must be taken into account, in addition to the fact that contributions to political parties by legal persons are prohibited, which reduces the risk of over-dependence on particular interest groups.