E-mail gaffe exposes PN's gag directive

The Nationalist Party's EP campaign chief has instructed the party's candidates not to disclose to The Sunday Times how much they spent on their election campaign.

An e-mail from Stefano Mallia, who also works closely with MEP Simon Busuttil, told candidates: "With reference to the query from The Sunday Times re MEP election expenses please use the reply reproduced below.

"I am very taken up with the demands of the election campaign" and so am unable to give "a comprehensive and proper account of the expenses incurred for the election campaign which is still underway... Once the election is over I will ensure that all accounts are properly done."

Dr Mallia also instructed candidates to say: "I am also committed to abide by the transparency rules as adopted by the Nationalist Party... These rules regulate PN elected MEPs with the highest standards of accountability and are unprecedented in Malta with no party committing itself to transparency rules other than the PN."

This newspaper became aware of the directive because one of the candidates, Vince Farrugia, inadvertently forwarded Dr Mallia's message along with the reply he was instructed to submit.

Labour candidates were also uncooperative, with the vast majority simply ignoring The Sunday Times' requests to disclose how much they spent on their campaign.

Following the assault of promotional material in the build-up to the elections, this newspaper asked 33 EP candidates to disclose their promotional expenses.

The law stipulates that each candidate's expenditure during MEP electoral campaigns cannot surpass €18,200, a figure confirmed by the Electoral Commissioner. Moreover, each candidate is required to take an oath confirming this.

Most PN candidates, including MEPs David Casa and Simon Busuttil, followed the party's directive and disclosed nothing, sending only the prescribed text.

Three PN candidates stood out for their transparency, however: Rudolph Cini listed his personal expenses as €2,110 and another €3,600 by supporters; while Alan Deidun said he spent around €4,500 on direct mailing, fliers and business cards.

Edward Demicoli did not list his expenses but was the only candidate to admit that he has exceeded the legal spending limit.

The only PL candidate to fully disclose her expenses was Maria Camilleri (€8,230). Steve Borg sent a detailed explanation of activities but said advertising was limited since his low monthly wage was needed to support his family. Christian Zammit said his only promotion expenditure was a brochure he distributed throughout Gozo.

PL candidate Claudette Abela Baldacchino said that her campaign was run on a "shoestring budget" and focused mostly on direct contact with constituents and new media, which is significantly cheaper than traditional media advertising.

The bigger spenders, notably those with EU salaries - John Attard Montalto, Louis Grech and Sharon Ellul Bonici - chose not to reply, as did Edward Scicluna, Marlene Mizzi, and Kirill Micallef Stafrace.

Louis Cuschieri decided to send a one-liner after being called to confirm he had received the questions. He did not reveal his expenses.

MEP Glenn Bedingfield claimed that his advertising expenditure "was kept to a minimum", preferring a campaign based on public dialogue and "information meetings which formed not only the basis of my campaign but also the basis of my EP duties".

Alternattiva Demokratika sent The Sunday Times a detailed breakdown of expenditure, even money received through donations, totalling around €14,300 and signed off by the party's treasurer.

John Zammit of Alleanza Liberali was the first to answer with a detailed list of expenses amounting to approximately €6,300.

Independent candidate Cecil Jones also sent a list expenses totalling €1,576, including hairdresser appointments.

Emmy Bezzina of the Alpha Party said that he committed himself to spending nothing on the campaign "by way of solidarity to the real hardship suffered by people", among other reasons.

Two of Azzjoni Nazzjonali's candidates, Malcolm Seychell and John Spiteri, claimed minimal expenditure (€99 and about €55 respectively) saying the party paid for the fliers and billboards. But the party's leader, Josie Muscat, did not reply.

Norman Lowell of Imperium Europa had his treasurer send a list of expenses, which amounted to close to €430.

The Sunday Times' e-mail to Mary Gauci of Libertas, the party backed by Irish millionaire Declan Ganley, remained unanswered even though her political group is campaigning for Members of the European Parliament to reveal their expenses.

Sources said that even a superficial assessment of the media advertising and promotional material in the public domain easily led one to conclude that a number of candidates had surpassed the legal limit on expenditure.

These candidates were left with two options when the campaign was over - either take a false oath or make a false declaration of expenses.

Lawyer Georg Sapiano described the situation as "a farce but a sad one because prospective lawmakers should challenge bad laws rather than ignore them, nor should anyone ever be cavalier about taking an oath".

He said the law needs revising: "If we are at all interested in having truth-based politics, then it is high time we decided to take the issue seriously, to determine the kind of limits that are realistic, which will let no one 'buy' an election, and then to seriously enforce the law."

He said he faced this conundrum when contesting the general election. To avoid taking a false oath, he took a decision not to exceed the budget but this meant he could not pay for any advertising or events because the limit was quickly absorbed by phone calls and fuel.

"What I witnessed in the last election was a free for all in which many behaved as if there was no law at all, and then promptly took an oath that they had observed it," Dr Sapiano said.

During the national election, the limit is €1,400 per district. For the MEP elections, Malta is considered to be one district, and since the candidates need to reach the whole country, this figure is multiplied by 13 (the number of districts in national elections).

"The spending limit for these elections is simply one anachronism to the power of 13. What we have done is take a single district's spending limits, which were last revised in 1981, and extrapolated them. What does not work for one district, however, also seems to be failing to work for the 13 grouped together," Dr Sapiano said.

Most replies received from candidates stressed that personal expenses were minimal because material and activities were funded by supporters. But Dr Sapiano said third party expenses were included in the legal limit.

"Anyone who says that donations from 'friends', or 'sponsors', as Sharon Ellul Bonici recently called them, don't count, or that their campaign is 'self-financing' because they sell entrance tickets to their disco parties, as John Dalli said on Dissett after the last election, has not understood the law."