Parliament passes motion on political party financing

Parliament has passed a motion for political party financing which was moved by Zomba Ntonya  member of Parliament (MP) Nedson Poya.

The current law provides that a political party can only get funding from Parliament if it gets 10 percent of the national vote, but the new bill seeks to bring new amendments where political parties will get funding based on the number of MPs it has in Parliament.

Poya said the new bill will be a watertight legislation that will also promote transparency and accountability of the funds received by the parties.

Said the MP: “We want to ensure that all political parties get financing as long as they have representation in the House. With the current requirement, only the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] and Malawi Congress Party [MCP] qualify for funding yet there are several other parties in the House.”

He added that the bill is likely to be tabled during this current sitting of Parliament.

Having passed the motion, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Madalitso Kazombo, who presided over parliament on the day, said Poya will work with the Parliamentary technical team to draft the bill which will later be brought to Parliament for deliberations.

Said Kazombo: “Now that the motion has been passed, the honourable member will work with Parliament technical team to draft the bill which will be brought in the House for deliberations.”

Commenting on the matter, DPP MP Ben Phiri said it is important that political parties get financing to support their operations.

He said the lack of financing pushes parties to allow financiers who come as donors, especially during the campaign period, but end up pushing for business as investors when the party they financed gets into power.

Said Phiri: “Democracy is expensive and the parties need to have access to funding in order to operate properly in promoting democracy.”

In his contribution, Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe said as the House will be looking at the issue of party financing, there is also need to consider the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD).

CMD-Malawi is a membership organisation principally for political parties who are represented in the National Assembly to ensure the entrenchment of multiparty democracy by encouraging and supporting dialogue among political parties, among other factors.