Fund new and non-parliamentary parties from the budget, consider the option of allowing foreign donations

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) recommended in its preliminary opinion on the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns - to consider the possibility of allowing certain foreign donations to parties.

ODIHR, in a document that "Vijesti" had access to, and which should be presented tomorrow in the Montenegrin parliament, stated that the possibility that international political organizations and associations could give contributions to "their national branches" for support in building the party and education, with the condition that these donations are not used to finance campaigns and favor certain political actors at the expense of others.

Recalling that the law they analyzed prohibits receiving contributions from "other countries", legal and natural persons who do not have the right to vote in Montenegro, and that this provision is in accordance with the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Rec(2003)4, ODIHR states that many countries allow certain exceptions to such a complete ban on foreign donations, and adds that it is recommended that the issue be "carefully regulated in order to avoid violating the right to freedom of association of parties active at the international level".

ODIHR assesses that, according to the guidelines of that organization and the Venice Commission on the regulation of parties, "(that) careful regulation may be particularly important in light of the growing role of political parties of the European Union (EU), as stated in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, Article 12 (2)". In addition, says ODIHR, this type of regulation could allow certain support of the foreign wing of the party, "in accordance with paragraphs 10.4 and 26 of the OSCE Copenhagen document", which, it says, foresees external cooperation and support for individuals, groups and organizations which promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"Depending on the regulation of the national wings of international associations, the financial support of those bodies may not require the same degree of restriction. Therefore, it is recommended to review the complete ban on monetary donations from international sources, to determine whether certain reasonable and balanced exceptions that would enable donations from international political organizations/associations to support their national wings in building parties and education...", the document reads.

The Law on the Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns was adopted at the end of 2019. In the framework of the Parliamentary Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, a working group was formed at the end of June to draft a new act. It is attended by representatives of all parties and clubs of deputies that are represented in the Committee, as well as representatives of the academic community and the non-governmental (NGO) sector. A qualified majority is not required to amend the current law or adopt a new one.

In its preliminary opinion, ODIHR also recommends that the extension of the right to funding from the budget be considered, so that it would also include parties that are not represented in the state parliament or local assemblies - which is not the case now, which, it says, would enable both non-parliamentary and newly established parties are eligible for funding.

It is stated that those parties, which are not in parliaments but participate in elections and enjoy minimal support from citizens, should be given part of the funds in order to promote political pluralism and guarantee that voters "have the political alternatives they need to make the right choice". This, ODIHR assesses, is especially important for smaller or newly founded parties, "which should be given a fair opportunity to compete with already existing parties".

"It is recommended to adopt clear guidelines on how new parties can become eligible for funding. That is why the introduction of a broader system for determining the conditions for funding should be considered..." reads the document, which "Vijesti" had access to.

ODIHR also recommends considering an increase in the share of budget funding during the election campaign, in order to support small and emerging parties "that may not have adequate private resources". That organization states that, as in the case of financing the regular activities of parties, it seems that the law provides more opportunities to larger political actors, especially those who are elected, which, it adds, may adversely affect new or smaller political entities.

"Although a proportional approach to the distribution of budget funds based on election results is generally considered fair, it is in the interest of political pluralism that the provision of budget support is conditional upon reaching a lower threshold than the electoral threshold for winning a mandate in the parliament... Regarding post-election funding, more importance should be given to the number of votes that shows a certain level of support received by the political party, instead of the number of mandates won in the parliament," it was said.

In the preliminary opinion, in the part of recommendations on private financing of regular activities of parties and campaigns, it was stated that more detailed regulations on donations in kind should be provided, making a distinction between services that are free or at a lower price, which are considered political activities, and those that are would be billed to other customers; require that all loans, including their detailed terms, be listed in the parties' annual reports, while outstanding loans and those that remain outstanding until the final campaign finance report should be treated as donations; to define membership fees and sponsorships in the law as contributions, in order to prevent their use for the purpose of avoiding the maximum allowed amount of donations.

Among other things, the ODIHR recommended that the law provide for appropriate and proportionate restrictions on campaign financing from third parties, "including the application of the same restrictions as for political parties and reporting obligations for third parties in order to prevent possible attempts to avoid the restrictions". , to grant the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) expanded investigative and inspection powers and direct access to the necessary databases to effectively monitor party and campaign finances, to strengthen and enforce the provisions of the law regarding the spending of money intended for women's organizations in parties, " with adequate supervision and control of relevant costs provided, and proportionate sanctions in case of abuse"...

ODIHR experts prepared a preliminary opinion for the needs of the Committee for Comprehensive Electoral Reform, as announced yesterday from the parliament.