Anti money-laundering reforms

A few days ago, the government sent a list of proposed, fairly radical anti-money-laundering reforms to FATF so that Malta may come off the grey list.

This proves what intelligent and unbiased people had concluded quite a while ago that, despite what government politicians repeatedly parroted, ‘the institutions were not working’.

Carmel Sciberras – Naxxar

The pernicious effect of donations in politics

Political party development is probably part of the solution.

I refer to the editorial ‘Donations paving road to hell’ (September 13) wherein it is stated that it has become an urgent matter to drastically modify and robustly regulate the way political parties are financed, given the scope for corruption and rampant development that the current system allows.

Everybody is in favour of campaign finance reform but I just wish this can be done in a way that would stand up to a constitutional challenge.

Corruption in political financing is a central issue for the deepening of democracy and combating corruption. In many countries, both developed and developing, the policing of party financing has proved difficult even where there are regulations, independent electoral commissions and parliamentary ethics committees. The effectiveness of these watchdogs depends on the commitment of the main political parties and the electorate to more ethical behaviour. That commitment is often absent.

Many countries have chosen to level the financial playing field between political parties through the introduction of state subsidies. Some of these measures are clearly justified in their own right; others are more controversial and their impact on illegal party financing is not clear.

On the other hand, cash payments to political parties to finance their campaigning or other political activities do not seem to guarantee probity in party financing. Even state-financed parties, especially those in power, are tempted to take advantage of opportunities to corruptly acquire additional illegal contributions.

State financing has other risks. For example, where poorly conceived, state funding can lead to a multiplication of small and weak parties, have a negative effect on party development and lead to a ‘freezing’ of the political party landscape. There is no guarantee that state funding reduces abuses. And state subsidies make little sense unless expenditure is also regulated.

In the longer term, political party development is probably part of the solution. Assistance could be provided by a specific national foundation with building party capacity to develop membership, improve management, campaign efficiently and effectively, enhance policy formulation and raise resources.

Mark Said – Msida

Old ceramic drain pipes

The government has generously assisted financially families and households with front house repair and embellishment. It was a great success.

May I now suggest that much more useful assistance be given with regard to houses’ backyards in need of converting old, heavy, leaky ceramic pipes to lighter, plastic ones.

The cost for old flats having this old and heavy pipework, often 50 to 70 years old, would mostly fall in the region of €800 to €1,500 to convert.

The health and social benefits would be enormous since these leaking pipes often cause friction among tenants.

Joseph Gulia – Paola

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