Pre-election party funding under scrutiny

A recent study released by the Latvian offices of the international corruption watchdog Transparency International and the Soros Foundation calls for changes in the laws regulating political party financing.

The study shows that nine of the biggest parties spent a total of 2.25 million lats ($3.57 million) campaigning for last year's Riga municipal elections. The three largest parties – the People's Party, Latvia's Way and the For Fatherland and Freedom party – spent 1.96 million lats.

"Results of the study show the money largely concentrates around those who are in power, which means the donors are concentrating on the possibilities of parties to use the power rather than ideology pursued by the parties," said Inese Voika, president of Transparency International's Latvian branch, Delna.

Political analyst and journalist Karlis Streips, who helped conduct research for the Soros Foundation, said political party financing in Latvia was still in its infancy and had flaws.

"I think for some parties the issue is to make things as foggy as possible in order to hide unacceptable links between parties and economical interests," he said.

Politicians have recently pointed to campaign financing as a blotch on Latvia's political landscape in the run-up to the October parliamentary elections.

But Streips says he doubts there's any political will to change it.

"I doubt someone will make a serious and dedicated effort to change the laws regulating political party financing," he said.

Streips believes parties should produce special financing reports twice during election years, one shortly before the election and another after the election.

Currently parties are required to submit one annual report.

Janis Jurkans, leader of the leftist coalition For Human Rights in a United Latvia, agrees that there is little transparency in party financing.

"We have to get rid of the situation we have now where money is influencing politics," he said. "First of all we have to limit the amount of money private persons and companies can donate, and there also has to be a limit on how much money a political party can spend during campaigns."

In the last four years, the People's Party has gone from an upstart political party to the biggest spender in Latvian politics, according to the report.

Arno Pjatkins, spokesman for the party, said it is because the party actually declares the money it receives and spends. According to Pjatkins, donors have to fill out a special form certifying the money they're donating is legitimate.

"The biggest problem in Latvian politics is that parties are not declaring real expenses," he said.

The vice chairman of Latvia's Way's parliamentary faction, Romualds Razuks, said his party had been trying to amend legislation regulating party financing.

"A part of political parties' finances are in a gray zone," Razuks said. "We need to move out of this gray zone."

"But this is the same in politics all over the world."

Razuks, like Streips, said one way to minimize the appearance of corruption was to declare income twice during election years.

Members of For Fatherland and Freedom's parliamentary faction contacted by The Baltic Times declined to comment on the party's financing.

Voika suggests regulations are enacted that require parties to declare a donation not later than five days after it is given. She also said she would like to see the declarations posted on the Internet.

Regulations aside, Voika said she had seen some improvement in parties' attitudes about financing, mostly, she thinks, because voters now care more.

"We still see decisions made in favor of economic groups, but the public makes much more noise about it today," Voika said. "Donors' influence on parties have decreased. The parties understand that they have to listen more to the public or they risk losing their seats."

New Times, the new political party started late last year by former central bank head Einars Repse, is the only political party to post all its donations and expenses on the Internet.

Repse, who is campaigning on a platform of open, honest government, said he didn't buy the rhetoric being sold by the influential parties.

"Many parties are speaking words about making changes to the legislation because it's an election year this year, but nobody is preventing them from being more transparent now," he said.

Voika and Repse disagree on how much influence money has on politics in the country. Voika said Latvian democracy was not strictly linked to money, while Repse was more sullen.

"The existing system includes a large part of black links between donors and parties, but it's very difficult to prove since our justice system is very weak and also corrupt," he said.