The public standards commissioner warned on Friday that the prospect of having to spend substantial amounts of money to get elected could discourage valid prospective candidates from contesting the elections. 

And by exiting the political scene, these valid candidates would be making way for those who saw politics as a means of personal gain or were willing to trade obligations with campaign donations, according to a report on election campaign spending by candidates.

The report by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, is the outcome of a landscape review rather than an investigation. While it provides examples of specific candidates' events and spending, these are the result of a sampling process and no individual candidate is singled out.  

By law, candidates can spend up to €40,000 if they contest two districts.

However, this limit applies only to expenditure incurred during the official campaign period, which starts when an election is called.

Candidates typically start campaigning well beforehand and a survey of some candidates’ public social media posts brought to light campaign events that did not appear reflected in their declarations.

Overall, 45 per cent of all candidates with the two main political parties declared spending €5,000 during the March 2022 election campaign.

Seven candidates – one from the Nationalist Party and six from the Labour Party - declared spending more than €25,000. Of these, four were ministers.

From Spending by Candidates in General Election Campaigns - a Landscape Review

From Spending by Candidates in General Election Campaigns - a Landscape Review

'Outdated declaration forms'

The declaration forms themselves are outdated and unclear, the commissioner's office notes.

"In many cases, actual declarations do not even satisfy the requirements in the forms. For instance, after the March 2022 election, only a limited number of candidates provided a detailed list of campaign donors as they are obliged by law to do."

It adds: "the report notes that valid prospective candidates can be dissuaded from contesting elections by the need to spend (and raise) substantial amounts of money in order to have a reasonable chance of success.

"This risks leaving the field to those who see politics as a means of personal gain or are willing to incur obligations to third parties in return for campaign donations."

The result, it warns, would be to undermine standards in public life and erode public trust in the political process.

Capping spending throughout legislature?

Despite lacking detailed recommendations for change, the report floats the idea of introducing a cap on campaign spending throughout the period of the legislature, rather than just during the official election campaign.

The report also argues for the imposition of an obligation to report all significant campaign donations regardless of when they are given. 

It warns that unrestrained campaign spending could trigger "a race to the bottom" in standards in public life.

It is "vital to the health of democracy" in Malta that such a situation is avoided, the report adds. 

Possible action

The commissioner's office believed candidates should be obliged to report all significant donations, regardless of when they are given, and this obligation should be effectively enforced.

This would enable the electorate to determine whether candidates have obligations that would limit their ability to serve the public interest if elected.

Such scrutiny would serve as a disincentive to candidates from accepting donations on a large scale since candidates who did so would face a political cost. 

"In the absence of such a measure, a legal limit on campaign expenditure – even if effectively enforced – might easily come to be seen by candidates not as a maximum but as a target they must aspire to in order to stand a reasonable chance of getting elected.

"The result might be to increase overall campaign spending by candidates as opposed to bringing it under control."