site.btaPolitical Party Subsidies Can Be Reduced to 6 Leva per Vote If Funding System is Reformed, Researchers Say

Sofia, December 14 (BTA) - The annual subsidy for political parties in Bulgaria can be reduced from 11 to about 6 leva per valid vote won at the latest parliamentary elections if the party funding system is reformed comprehensively, the Institute for Public Environment Development (IPED) concluded in a study which was unveiled at a BTA-hosted news conference on Thursday.

The IPED recommends that the subsidy remain linked to the number of votes earned at parliamentary elections, but its size should be based on an objective criterion such as the average wage in Bulgaria which the National Statistical Institute announces every three months, the IPED's Iva Lazarova said. The exact ratio of the subsidy to the average wage could be determined according to a party expenditure standard approved by consensus by the parties, she said.

The IPED's Yassen Lazarov pointed to the need for an independent body to control party financing. The job could be done by the new anti-corruption authority which is expected to be set up, he said.

The researchers also proposed dividing the party subsidy into a base subsidy (80 per cent) and an additional subsidy (20 per cent). The base subsidy should be provided for the same purposes for which it is intended at present: to enable a party to prepare for and participate in political elections, to finance the operation of the party's bodies and to pay for the organization of events. The additional subsidy should be given at the end of the year for other expenditures which the party has already incurred and which have been necessary for its core activities. This kind of expenditures should be regulated by the Political Parties Act, the IPED said.

Any unused portion of the subsidy should be returned to the state budget instead of staying idle in bank accounts and bringing interest for the party, the researchers said.

The IPED further recommended raising the cap on individuals' donations to political parties to 15,000 leva annually and allowing legal entities whose owners are clearly identified to donate up to 50,000 leva a year. The scope of the economic activities which parties are allowed to conduct should be enlarged. Yet another proposal is to raise the cap on election campaign funding; for example, it can be double the current level.

The IPED insists that political parties should not be allowed to make donations using money from their annual subsidy.