Labour and PN have both failed to name a single major political donor for 2019, simply crossing out the section requesting the information in official documents.   

Donation declaration forms submitted by both the PL and PN were published by the electoral commission this month, however, both parties are claiming that their donations were in small amounts that do not require donors’ details to be published. 

Parties are obliged to give the commission a detailed breakdown of donations they receive on an annual basis. 

However, the law on party financing only requires the parties to name the source of the funds when a donation exceeds €7,000.  

The section of the documents in which major donors should be named simply read “Nil” or have been crossed out by the two major parties.  

The section of Labour's declaration in which major donors should be named.

Issues with the opaque way business interests can make large financial contributions to political parties have been repeatedly raised in recent years.  

The PN has faced claims that it would send a former top official to routinely solicit payments of €20,000 in cash from alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder conspirator Yorgen Fenech.  

Meanwhile, concerns were raised about possible by-passing of financing laws after Times of Malta exposed how a PL-linked company had drafted a consultancy deal to receive €200,000 from Fenech. 

In an interview with Times of Malta last year, former developers’ lobby chief Sandro Chetcuti said political parties regularly pester and harass businesspeople for donations. 

A public inquiry into the Caruana Galizia assassination had also waded into the problematic relationship parties have with big business.  

Among other things, it called for legal amendments to deter the use of political or financial power to escape justice.

It also said that laws should be introduced to ensure absolute transparency and accountability in the relationship between the government and big business.

The PN had proposed a mega-bill to implement the recommendations however this was blocked in parliament by the government.  

Robert Abela meanwhile promised a public consultation on the inquiry's recommendations. 

How much did the parties raise in 2019?  

The PL says it raised €1.2million in donations in 2019, while the PN nudged ahead collecting €1.6million.  

According to party financing rules, parties must give a breakdown of donations received in excess of €500 but which do not exceed €7,000. Details of these donors are passed over to the commission but not published.  

Labour says 138 donations in this category generated €326,510 for the party in 2019. The PN registered 333 such donations with a total value of €775,298. 

The next category of donations - between €50 and €500 - saw the PL declare 671,001 and the PN jot down €183,297.

The PN made up for this discrepancy in the lowest donation category of less than €50. 

Here, the PN declared an injection of €637,625, compared to the PL’s €111,172. 

By way of comparison, Green party Alternative Demoktatrika says it raised just €2,977 in total from donations.