Justice Minister Brax says election finance legislation does not work

Urges parties to voluntarily monitor compliance

Tuija Brax

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Minister of Justice Tuija Brax (Green) says that the present law on the disclosure of candidates' election funding does not work.
     Brax said on Tuesday that the reports submitted by Members of Parliament disclosing the sources of major campaign contributions, contain too much material, on whose basis it is not possible to form any kind of perception of where the candidate's support really came from.
     The election finance law, which was passed in 2000, has been applied in six elections so far. The weakest part of the law is that it does not assign any punishment for those who violate it.
     
Speaking at a seminar organised by Transparency Finland, Brax called on parties themselves to make sure that their candidates do not circumvent the law in their reports on campaign spending.
     At the seminar, representatives of Finnish Parliamentary parties commented on a report concerning Finland drafted by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in the Council of Europe.
     The report, which was made public in December, gives Finland ten recommendations.
     The report was mostly praised by the Finnish parties, which did not comment on Justice minister Brax's proposal for the parties' self-regulation in campaign spending.
     
There were some differences in opinion on how high a single donation should be before it falls under the mandatory disclosure rule. Currently the sum is EUR 1,700 in Parliamentary elections. Brax felt that the sum is too high, while Jarmo Pekkala felt that the sum "is so small that you can't buy opinions with it".


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)

Helsingin Sanomat