PN still blames auditor for unpublished accounts

Updated 11.28 with Repubblika statement describing the current situation as unacceptable.

The Nationalist Party has failed to publish its statement of accounts since 2020, as leader Bernard Grech continues to insist that the party is waiting on the auditor to finalise the accounts.

According to the Electoral Commission’s website, the PN is missing its statement of accounts for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The PN is also missing donation reports for 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Speaking to Times of Malta about the party’s accounts on Tuesday, Grech said that the situation is identical to what he said nearly six months ago: that the party is waiting on the auditor to finalise the accounts.

“You must appreciate that the PN is a complex entity, and, therefore, there is a lot that needs to be done with regard to accounts,” Grech said.

When asked whether he could provide a date as to when these accounts will be published, Grech said he does not like to give deadlines.

“I prefer mature politics where what I can promise, I promise. That which I cannot promise, I won’t promise. But I continue to promise that these accounts will be filed as soon as possible,” Grech said.

Since Grech became leader in October 2020, the party has failed to submit accounts for any full calendar.

The Labour Party has published everything except for its 2024 statement of accounts.

Other parties have also filed their accounts and donation reports. These include parties that field candidates only for local council elections, such as Għarb l-Ewwel, Floriana l-Ewwel and Residenti Beltin.

Also, smaller parties, including ABBA, Partit Popolari, Imperium Europa, ADPD and Volt, which have never won a parliamentary or MEP seat, have also filed their accounts.

The requirement to publish political party accounts and donation reports had been introduced in 2016 through the Financing of Political Parties Act.

Since then, political parties have been required to publish the names of individuals and companies donating more than €7,000.

Political parties cannot receive more than €20,000 in donations from individuals or individual companies.

Political parties must present audited accounts to the regulator (the Electoral Commission) within four months of the end of their financial year. Failing to do so can lead to a fine of €10,000.

They must also present a donation report within 60 days of their reporting period. Failing to do so carries a maximum administrative fine of €20,000.

A year-and-a-half of chasing answers

The PN’s accounts saga was first flagged by Times of Malta in October 2023, when the party initially blamed the delays on a lack of resources.

In January 2024, Grech said that the party “continues doing its duty”.

The PN’s delay led to then-Labour MEP candidates Marija Sara Vella Gafà and Daniel Attard to file a judicial protest, calling on the Electoral Commission to take action.

Responding in March 2024, the Electoral Commission revealed that it had asked the PN to submit its accounts five times since 2022.

The commission added that its hands were tied due to a judgment in 2019 which declared that the commission could not investigate and decide on cases regarding the party funding law.

Since then, the donation report for 2021 has been published.

Grech’s response on Tuesday mirrors the response he gave in January 2025, when he initially blamed the auditor for the delays.

The saga eventually led Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba, in February, to call on the European People’s Party (EPP) – which the PN forms part of – to investigate the “worrying state” of the PN’s financial records.

Repubblika: The situation is unacceptable

In a statement on Sunday morning, rule of law group Repubblika said it was unacceptable that the Opposition party was failing to publish its accounts, in breach of the law.

"Publication of the political party accounts is an important tool to achieve transparency, enabling public surveillance of the behaviour of political parties in the fight against corruption," it said.

It said it was criticising the PN's behaviour in the same way as it had criticised the prime minister for failing to publish a list of his assets and those of his ministers.

The NGO said it was not convinced by the PN's explanations and said it was the duty of every political party to ensure that it had auditors who could deliver on time. 

Until the situation was settled, the PN should publish unverified accounts, it said.