Proposals by the President for Reforming the Political Model
17-06-2008 13:00 |
I. Legal and public guarantees for national representation of the parties:
1. The requirement for having registered structures in at least two thirds of the municipalities is introduced as a condition for participation in general and local elections.
2. In case some parties do not succeed to garner 1% of the vote (2% for the coalitions) in two consecutive elections they shall be erased from the party register and shall not participate in the next elections. If they wish to continue their political existence, they are subject to a new registration according to the Political Parties Law.
3. Only parties that have garnered at least 1% of the vote (2% for the coalitions) at the preceding general elections shall participate in the local elections. Only those parties shall have the right to designate candidates for mayors and election tickets. Independent candidates for mayors and municipal councilors shall be admitted, however not tickets behind which there are no clear political subjects.
II. Transparency of party financing
4. Discontinuing the party financing by legal entities. Increasing the State subsidy for the parties that have crossed the 1 % barrier at the last parliamentary vote.
5. Setting up a public register of individual donors with a preset limit for the donation amount. Introduction of public register for the advertising, sociological, lobbyist and PR agencies working for particular parties.
6. Upon participation in elections, apart from getting registered with the Central Election Committee (CEC), each party shall register a public current bank account where all donations shall be deposited and all election campaigning events shall be financed from.
7. Securing rights, personnel and expert capacity to the National Audit Office for exercising control over the party finances, election campaigning and PR agencies activities.
- Each election campaigning event is subject to financial check-up by the National Audit Office. In case the event is not financed through the registered party current account, adequate sanctions shall be imposed.
- Allowing check-ups by the National Audit Office of the party accounting books.
- When violations of the financial discipline are established, acting on a proposal by the National Audit Office the competent authorities shall impose strict sanctions such as election results cassation, non-admission of the party to participation in the next elections etc.
8. Discontinuation of renting party club facilities to third parties by either directly prohibiting such renting or by setting the amount of municipal or state rent according to the average market price for the region.
III. Re-gaining voters’ confidence through reforming the election system
9. Introduction of proportional election system with a majority element:
- Maintaining the proportional character of the election system by which the leading political role and responsibility of the parties shall be secured.
- Majority candidates shall run in big single mandate constituencies which shall add to their public recognition and allow efficient control over vote purchasing.
10. Cleansing the election tickets from “phantoms”. Introducing active registration of voters. Unification of the rules for various types of elections.
The complex solution of issues related to the national representation of the parties, the advanced criteria for their registration and for the right to participate in elections, the transparency of party financing and the extended control over it, as well as the amendments to the election legislation shall all bring to a genuine reform of the political model.
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