Political parties ‘not abiding by the law’
It is unacceptable for parliamentary parties to not abide by the law, permanent secretary of the interior ministry Ellikos Elias said on Tuesday, after it emerged some have failed to file donations statements.
Parties, both those in parliament and others, were meant to have submitted the statements by June 30, with Elias saying that 20 parties have not done so far.
All but one parliamentary parties have submitted the statements, which show the name of the donor and the amount donated over €500.
The only party in parliament not to submit the statement is far-right Elam.
Elias told the Cyprus Mail the 20 registered parties that have not submitted donor lists for 2023 include Volt Cyprus.
According to the law, all parties need to publish a list of their donations over €500 on their website and submit it to the interior ministry.
Parties failing to meet the June 30 deadline are subject to a fine not more than three times the total amount of donations not made public.
Elias called on all parties to follow the rule “for the sake of transparency”.
Elam has not submitted its list of donors since its formation, despite listing donations on their 2021 and 2022 financial statements, and being in parliament since 2016.
According to their financial statements, in 2022 Elam received €1,000 in donations, and €20,430 in 2021.
Meanwhile, other parliamentary political parties submitted lists of their donors and donations for 2023, with those for Disy amounting to €553,000, Akel to €1 million, Diko to €261,000, Edek €50,000, Depa €15,500, and the Greens €25,000.
Disy has recently submitted a draft bill to parliament requiring public officials to also submit a list of donors to charities they head, something the presidential palace is pushing hard to have thrown out.
According to daily Politis, the reason for this is first lady Philippa Karsera heading the social support fund in common with previous presidential wives.
Karsera had previously called for this draft bill to be voted down in parliament, claiming that donors will be put off from donating money if the donations are made public.
The argument put forward by Karsera to keep the sponsors of the fund in the dark is refuted, as the companies and donors to the parties have remained the same for the last few years despite the publication of their names.
Asked why Disy did not submit the proposal when Andri Anastasiadou was the chairman of the fund’s management committee, Disy MP Nikos Georgiou, who signed the draft bill, said “better late than never”. He said, the law regulating the operation of this fund should be amended with the ultimate goal of transparency.