It is an open secret that very few, if any, candidates wholly finance their campaigns themselves, whether in the general, local or European elections. The issue is not the campaigning but the provenance of the funds.

As the June local and European elections draw closer, Times of Malta conducted an exercise to have an idea of what sort of money is truly spent in such campaigns. We focused on one of the larger events – a rally organised by MEP Alex Agius Saliba under a tent right at the entrance to Valletta. 

It is estimated that just to hire the equipment used for such a rally, a private individual would have to fork out just under €32,000.

This excluded catering, permits, branding, merchandise and labour and transport expenses, which would surely bring the grand total close or over the €50,000 limit MEP candidates are allowed to spend by law. Many of the candidates cannot afford such promotional events,  but such grandiose events are not unknown either. The exercise conducted serves to highlight at least three main issues.

First, are the expenditure limits realistic in today’s world? Second, can the declarations that candidates are bound to make with regard to such expenses be taken for a fact? Third, is the law being respected and is an adequate enforcement system in place?

The commissioner for standards in public life had conducted a “landscape review” of spending by candidates in general election campaigns.

A report published in September 2022 had concluded: “Unrestrained campaign spending can trigger a race to the bottom in terms of standards in public life, with conflicts of interest abounding, and abuses of office becoming commonplace on the part of ministers and MPs.”

General election candidates cannot spend more than €20,000 for each electoral district they contest, “whether before, during, or after an election on account of or in respect of the conduct of such election”.

The standards commissioner had raised a very valid point in his report. When does a person become a candidate, hence, being subjected to the demands of the law? Is it when one declares the intention to run, when formally adopted by the party or when the nomination is finally submitted?

The events held by prospective candidates in the run-up to elections are  varied. Some, like house visits, TV appearances and meetings with NGOs and constituted bodies, are likely to cost very little if anything at all.

However, when it comes to advertising, printing, mass social gatherings, receptions and gifts, expenses, no doubt, shoot up. The Times of Malta exercise sheds light on whether the limits now in place reflect today’s prices.

This is where the candidates and their teams start to become resourceful on how to beat the system.

Which brings up the issue of whether the laws and regulations in place are only being respected in their breach and so need updating. Election-campaign spending falls under the remit of the Electoral Commission.

However, since it is made up of representatives of the parties in parliament, it is unlikely it will be very keen in rocking the boat.

That is, of course, wrong both because it will be failing in its legal duties and also because a laissez-faire situation can only further harm standards in public life, which are already at rock bottom.

It will also erode public trust in politics. And that, as the standards commissioner had observed in his report, “would make it even harder to attract public-spirited persons to politics, creating a circular cause-and-effect chain that would be difficult to break”.