Weekly analysis for 17 – 23 April

Draft law to direct state funding of political parties to the needs of the Armed Forces: Parliament registers bill

Event

On April 22, a group of MPs registered draft law No. 11189 in the Parliament, which proposes to supplement the Final and Transitional Provisions of the Budget Code of Ukraine with paragraph 61 in order to redirect state budget expenditures aimed at state financial support for political parties to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, mobilization, training, procurement, modernization and repair of weapons, etc. The redirection of state funding for political parties is supposed to be temporary for the period until the martial law is terminated or lifted.

CPLR experts’ assessment 

The question of whether it is advisable to terminate or suspend state funding of political parties during the war has been the subject of debate on several occasions. Such initiatives have been expressed in the form of electronic petitions to the President of Ukraine and draft laws (e.g., draft law No. 10401). 

The CPLR experts once again emphasize that political parties need adequate funding to perform their main functions both during elections and in the period between them. The introduction of state funding of political parties is important to guarantee the independence of parties from undue oligarchic influence, the facts of which are obvious in Ukraine and, as a result, distort the representation of citizens’ interests by parties in the Parliament.

A number of documents of international organizations, in particular:

1. Rules on the Financing of Political Parties, adopted by the Venice Commission at its 46th Plenary Session in Venice (March 9-10, 2001);

2. Recommendation 1516 (2001) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the Financing of Political Parties, adopted by the Standing Committee on behalf of the Assembly on May 22, 2001;

3. Recommendation REC (2003) 4 of the Committee of Ministers to the Member States of the Council of Europe, adopted by the Committee of Ministers at the 835th meeting of the Deputies (April 8, 2003); and

4. Regulation (EC) No. 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 4, 2003 on the status and funding of political parties at European level;

recommend the introduction of state funding of political parties. 

More information on international standards for the introduction of public funding of political parties can be found in the CPLR’s material at the link.

Today, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), about two-thirds of the world’s countries provide direct public funding to political parties. Public funding is important to support the institutional capacity of political parties and their ability to engage with their constituents. Such support is also in line with the perception of parties as an important element of democracy that needs to be invested in for the political system to function properly. 

It is worth noting that given the global crisis of trust in political systems in the world and in Ukraine in particular, public funding of political parties is not well received and understood by the public. The solution to this issue lies in the introduction and implementation of the best European practices in the field of prevention of political corruption, as well as in conducting awareness-raising campaigns on the social need and importance of political finance reform (more details via the link).

As a result, the CPLR experts do not support the adoption of draft law No. 11189, as the lack of state funding for political parties jeopardizes their vital activity today, which will have a negative impact on the quality of political competition after the war.