Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

All political parties need resources, especially money, for them to effectively function in a democracy. The challenge is not only to raise those financial resource but also to ensure that the role of money in party politics does not undermine the very basic democratic values and principles that parties are supposed to espouse and abide by. Thus, how parties mobilizes, manage and account for financial resources is critical.

It is this very important question that was at the centre of a public debate organised on the 28th of September by the Centre for Multiparty Democracy Malawi (CMD-M) under the theme “Political party financing”.

Taking place just after the elections of May 2009, the debate drew a cross section of senior party leaders from all the parties represented in Parliament, along with journalists and members of the general public. All together, over 70 people took part. The debate was covered live by the highly reputed, independent radio station Zodiac Broadcasting Station (ZBS).

Professor Ruud Koole, former Chairman of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) and Vice President of NIMD, was the main speaker while Mr Peter Chinoko, Secretary of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Malawi acted as respondent. An international scholar and practitioner, Professor Koole shared with the audience his own experience with party financing, while at the same time offering some advice on what kind of legal reforms may be needed for a young democracy like Malawi in order to ensure that money doesn't undermine democratic politics.


Level playing field

Mr Koole noted, for instance, that while politics cannot do without money the challenge is to find a set of rules in which freedom and equality are balanced. That is, a balance between freedom for the parties to attract financial resources and restrictions to guarantee a level playing field for all parties and the possibility for all parties to contest.

Commenting on the 10% threshold of national votes that Malawian parties need to obtain if they are to qualify for public funding, he observed that this is too high a threshold to allow the growth of parties. He noted that, in fact, it is the highest treshold he has come across in countries where state funding of political parties is provided.

Mr Koole observed that in other countries, political parties receive public funding as long as they have at least a representation in parliament, while in other countries the number of votes that a party obtains in an election is taken into  consideration. Although there is no universal system in this regard, Mr Koole stressed that the most fundamental consideration should be to ensure that  multiparty democracy thrives. His observation was echoed by almost all the political party representatives present.


Legal reform

While agreeing with Prof. Koole, Mr Chinoko added that the legal framework governing financing of political parties in Malawi is too weak to reckon with and that it was high time Malawians started agitating for reform in this area.

Mr. Kizito Tenthani, Executive Director for CMD-M, announced that his organization is keen to take the debate forward. It is expected that in the 2010 annual plan of the NIMD-sponsored programme, legal and political reforms in the area of financing of political parties will be taken on board. In this way, Malawi will join other countries in the region such as South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, which are also planning to take on similar issues.

For a comparative overview of legal frameworks governing political parties in Tanzania, South Africa, Malawi and Zambia, see the paper Political Party Legislation by Augustine Magolowondo