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2007 Assessment

Colombia: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Colombia: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing political financing?	86
21	Are the regulations governing political financing effective?	29
22	Can citizens access records related to political financing?	33

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing political financing?

20a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: The law prohibits anonymous contributions and contributions from public servants, and also limits the amount of individual donations in electoral campaigns (art. 109 Constitution).

References: Constitucion Política de Colombia 1991. Art. 109

Ley 130 de 1994 (Marzo 23) "Diario Oficial No. 41280, del 23 de marzo de 1994 Por la cual se dicta el Estatuto Básico de los partidos y movimientos políticos, se dictan normas sobre su financiación y la de las campañas electorales y se dictan otras disposiciones" Titulo IV [ LINK ]

Ley 996 de 2005, 24 Nov. 2005 "POR MEDIO DE LA CUAL SE REGLAMENTA LA ELECCIÓN DE PRESIDENTE DE LA REPÚBLICA, DE CONFORMIDAD CON EL ARTÍCULO 152 LITERAL F) DE LA CONSTITUCIÓN POLÍTICA DE COLOMBIA, Y DE ACUERDO CON LO ESTABLECIDO EN EL ACTO LEGISLATIVO 02 DE 2004, Y SE DICTAN OTRAS DISPOSICIONES."

20b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to the Constitution, the law can limit the amount of individual donations in electoral campaigns (art. 109). The specific amount of the limit is determined by the National Electoral Court six months before elections for congressional and local elections.

For presidential elections, there was a new framework issued for the 2006 presidential elections in which the specific amount of the limit for private contributions was determined. Such limit is 2 percent of the amount determined for total expenditures (US$5,136,420). This law also determines that private contributions cannot exceed 20 percent of total expenditure in the campaign for presidential elections.

References: Constitucion Política de Colombia 1991. Art. 109.

20c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties.

Score:

YES

Comments: The legal framework for campaign funding (Law 130 of 1994) does not impose a limit on corporate donations as it does explicitly for individual private donations. The law establishes that corporate donations have to be approved by the majority of the board members in the respective corporation but it is not completely clear about limits for these kind of donations. However, for the Presidential Elections in May 2006 the Constitutional Court explicitly banned Presidential campaigns from receiving corporate donations. In sum, the Law does impose some limitations on corporate donations but it is not completely clear if those limits apply to corporate donations as well. Although there was an advance in regulating corporate contributions for Presidential Elections, the ambiguities for local and legislative elections are still unsolved.

References: Constitucion Política de Colombia. art. 240.

Peer Review Comments: Although there are limits for corporate donations in presidential elections (Ley 996 de 2005, art.14), there are no limits for corporate contributions to other political candidates or political parties.

20d: In law, there are limits on total political party expenditures.

Score:

YES

Comments: According to the Constitution, the law can limit campaign expenditures (art. 109), and according to the legal framework for campaign funding (Law 130 of 1994), the National Electoral Council has to determine the amount of such limit six months before elections. In the case of presidential elections, the government issued a law before the presidential elections in 2006 and determined specifically the limit of expenditures for Presidential elections in US$5,136,420.

References: Constitucion Política de Colombia. art. 240.

20e: In law, there are requirements for disclosure of donations to political candidates and parties.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there are any requirements mandating the disclosure of financial contributions to political parties or candidates. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no requirements mandating the disclosure of contributions to political parties or candidates, existing regulations do not require a donor\'s name or amount given, or the regulations allow for anonymous donations.$

Comments: According to the Constitution, parties, movements and candidates should disclose the volume, destiny, and origin of their income. (art. 109) during election times and also during their normal functioning, 30 days after every election, and 30 days after the end of every fiscal year. These reports on incomes and expenditures should be presented to the Electoral Council. Independent candidates shall present reports but not the individual members of the same party (after an electoral reform in 2003 candidates for congress run on an open list formula).

References: Constitucion Política de Colombia. art. 109.

20f: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the finances of political parties and candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments: The Law 996 of 2005, issued to regulate the 2006 presidential elections, states that in order to control the management of income and expenditures in campaigns, parties and political movements with legal recognition should create and register before the National Electoral Council an audit system in order to be eligible to accept public and private funding. The auditor becomes responsible for the financial management if he or she does not inform the Electoral Council about irregularities. The external audit of resources is the responsibility of the National Electoral Council through the fund for party and electoral campaign funding.

There is no such requirement for all other elections.

References: Ley 996 de 2005, 24 Nov. 2005 "POR MEDIO DE LA CUAL SE REGLAMENTA LA ELECCIÓN DE PRESIDENTE DE LA REPÚBLICA, DE CONFORMIDAD CON EL ARTÍCULO 152 LITERAL F) DE LA CONSTITUCIÓN POLÍTICA DE COLOMBIA, Y DE ACUERDO CON LO ESTABLECIDO EN EL ACTO LEGISLATIVO 02 DE 2004, Y SE DICTAN OTRAS DISPOSICIONES."

20g: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the political financing process.

Score:

YES

Comments: The National Electoral Council monitors political financing and reviews party's and candidate's financial reports.

References: Constitucion Política de Colombia 1991. art. 265.

Are the regulations governing political financing effective?

21a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments: There is a widespread perception that the obligation of disclosure and the limits on donations do not prevent parties to surpassing limits on contributions and are not effective in preventing the entrance of proceeds from illegal activities into the political life. After the scandals about drug trafficking funding in the 1994 presidential elections, presidential candidates have been very careful in respecting limits on contributions. However, for all other elections, especially congressional elections, the reality is different. In fact, it is considered that parties only report around 30 percent of their actual contributions, and limits are not respected. The electoral body has limited capacity to identify violations to the regulations on political financing.

Some civil society organizations, such as the NGO Transparency for Colombia, made efforts in inviting candidates and parties to disclose their income in real time for the 2006 congressional elections (as they are receiving it). However, only two parties answered to this call, and the electoral rules changed rendering Transparency's platform unseful. The NGO Congreso Visible from the Universidad de los Andes has established a system in which candidates register campaign funding information on a voluntary basis. Although the experiment has increased awareness about the importance of transparency, it has not prevented candidates from surpassing donation limits, and only 376 congressional candidates out of 2,929 reported their programs and expenditures with Congreso Visible in 2006.

A recent scandal known as "parapolitica" (links between politicians and paramilitary groups) is an example of how limits are surpassed. Within the scandal, there have been several proven cases of politicians that accepted funding from paramilitary groups. To date, 15 congressmen have been separated from their congressional seats as a result of this scandal.

References: Transparency International Crinis. 2007. Informe financiamiento en América Latina.

Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

El Tiempo. Julio 4 de 2007. "Más de 1.550 candidatos a las consultas del próximo domingo se retiraron."

Revista Semana. "No dejaré que empañen mi campaña: Uribe." April 10, 2006.

Revista Semana. "Congresistas suscriptores del acuerdo de Ralito fueron llamados a indagatoria por concierto para delinquir agravado." March 21, 2007.

Misión de Observación Electoral. ELECCIONES LEGISLATIVAS, 12 DE MARZO 2006 INFORME PRELIMINAR. www.vivalaciudadania.org

El Tiempo. Agentes del CTI seguían desde el martes a 19 políticos capturados ayer por firmar el Pacto de Ralito. Mayo 15 de 2007.

De la Calle, Humberto. 2003. ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO SOBRE FINANCIAMIENTO DE CAMPAÑAS Y PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS COLOMBIA. Unidad para la promoción de la democracia OEA, IDEA Internacional.

CAMPAÑAS Y DINERO: UN ARMA DE DOBLE FILO. PNUD. Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Humano. Marzo 2006. # 3.

21b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to candidates and political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate or political party.

Score:

100

Comments: There is a widespread perception that the regulations on corporate donations do not prevent parties from receiving considerable funding from few economic groups. The lack of regulations on corporate donations has encouraged practices that might be harmful for democratic exercises, such as the parallel financing of the same economic group to various candidates, economic support that is directed only to the most powerful and popular candidates creating bias against independents, and the almost practical inexistence of campaigns funded with small donations. The electoral body has limited capacity to identify violations to the regulations on political financing. It is important to note, however, that the prohibition on corporate donations for presidential elections constituted a more real limit to campaign funding in the 2006 congressional elections.

References: Transparency International Crinis. 2007. Informe financiamiento en América Latina.

Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

De la Calle, Humberto. 2003. ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO SOBRE FINANCIAMIENTO DE CAMPAÑAS Y PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS COLOMBIA. Unidad para la promoción de la democracia OEA, IDEA Internacional.

CAMPAÑAS Y DINERO: UN ARMA DE DOBLE FILO. PNUD. Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Humano. Marzo 2006. # 3.

21c: In practice, the limits on total party expenditures are effective in regulating a political party's ability to fund campaigns or politically-related activities.

Score:

100

Comments: There is a widespread perception that the limits on expenditures do not prevent parties from surpassing campaign costs. Informally, many candidates report that campaign costs are too high compared to the expenditure limits. For example, for the 2002 elections for senate and congress, the limit was US$156,000, and officially candidates reported total expenditures within that ceiling. However, informally, people sustained that some campaigns could have cost three or four times more.

In October 2007 there will be local elections for majors, governors, local councils and departmental assemblies. By July 2, 2007, the electoral body reported that 1,500 candidates had retired their candidacies, many of them owed to the impossibility of covering high campaign costs. The fears of irregular funding in local elections are bigger than in presidential elections as the regulations for the last presidential elections were stronger that the existent regulations for local elections.

References: Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

Transparency International Crinis. 2007. Informe financiamiento en América Latina El Tiempo. Julio 4 de 2007. "Más de 1.550 candidatos a las consultas del próximo domingo se retiraron."

De la Calle, Humberto. 2003. ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO SOBRE FINANCIAMIENTO DE CAMPAÑAS Y PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS COLOMBIA. Unidad para la promoción de la democracia OEA, IDEA Internacional.

CAMPAÑAS Y DINERO: UN ARMA DE DOBLE FILO. PNUD. Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Humano. Marzo 2006. # 3.

La transparencia en la financiación de la política: el mayor reto en la lucha contra la corrupción en Colombia.

Tamayo Rincón, Marta Lucía. 2007. Soluciones para ejercer un eficaz control del los dineros que financiarán las elecciones. [ LINK ]

21d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments: In what refers to violations on the norms of political party funding, the CNE has the faculty to initiate investigations if there are irregularities, however even if they are initiated, these investigations are barely concluded. Additionally, the perception is that it is difficult to impose sanctions because the priority is on reviewing the limits of contributions and to determine the eligibility for public funding, giving a second place to a real review of funding sources.

The National Electoral Council lacks investigative capacities and personnel and is permeated by political interests, thus limiting its effective investigative capacity.

References: Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

Procuraduria General de la Nación. 2006. Historia breve y reciente del control electoral de la Procuraduria. www.procuraduria.gov.co/descargas/eventos/foroIEMP_092006_historiacontrolelectoral.doc .

De la Calle, Humberto. 2003. ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO SOBRE FINANCIAMIENTO DE CAMPAÑAS Y PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS COLOMBIA. Unidad para la promoción de la democracia OEA, IDEA Internacional.

21e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring political financing imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: According to a recent study by Transparency International and the Carter Center, the perception among experts on political finance is that there is little credibility in the Electoral Council and its capacity to sanction violations to regulations on political party funding.

Although the responsibilities of the Electoral Council are clear and permanent, they are hindered by the partisan origin of its members. Often the sanctions imposed are small fines and the most serious violations are not detected or are ignored. Among other sanctions for violations on party funding regulations are the cancellation of public funding or of the legal status of political parties. However, there is no reported case of application of these major sanctions.

For the 2006 congressional election, the Procuraduria (general attorney's office) celebrated public audiences in which candidates, electoral witnesses and candidates' attorneys presented all the complaints on electoral results. The Supreme Audit Institution issued 77 petitions asking the National Electoral Council to accept some and to deny others. In the end, the National Electoral Council denied all petitions.

References: Transparency International and Carter Center. 2007. Crinis. Informe financiamiento en América Latina.

Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

De la Calle, Humberto. 2003. ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO SOBRE FINANCIAMIENTO DE CAMPAÑAS Y PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS COLOMBIA. Unidad para la promoción de la democracia OEA, IDEA Internacional.

Procuraduria General de la Nación. 2006. Historia breve y reciente del control electoral de la Procuraduria. www.procuraduria.gov.co/descargas/eventos/foroIEMP_092006_historiacontrolelectoral.doc .

21f: In practice, contributions to political parties and candidates are audited.

Score:

100

Comments: The National Electoral Council constitutes the Campaigns Fund, which audits and reviews financial reports and can impose administrative investigations and impose fines. If there is penal responsibility, the case goes to the judiciary.

According to a recent study by Transparency International and the Carter Center, the scores in accountability of political financing in Colombia are better than the regional (Latin American) average. It means that the scope of the data reported is very good compared to the majority of Latin American countries. However, the big problem is that the credibility of information reported and thus, of the auditing exercise, is seriously flawed.

First, the Electoral Council is perceived as very politicized. Second, despite the auditing obligations, parties don't report the full extent of information, although this is very difficult to prove. And third, the Council lacks investigative capacities and usually auditing exercises are concentrated on the formalities rather than on the substance of accounts.

In December 2005, the newspaper El Tiempo reported that the National Electoral Council still had to review 5,000 accounts from the 2003 elections in order to distribute public funds for campaigns (paid on the base of valid votes).

The results of an auditing exercise on party accounts contracted by the Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil in 2004 showed that the majority of parties have serious flaws in their accounts. Those flaws usually are related to the lack of documents supporting financial movements, expenditures and contributions, inadequate knowledge of the norms, or even lack of clarity about who signs checks within the parties. From 61 parties analyzed, only 18 were qualified as having "clean" accounts.

References: De la Calle, Humberto. 2003. ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO SOBRE FINANCIAMIENTO DE CAMPAÑAS Y PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS COLOMBIA. Unidad para la promoción de la democracia OEA, IDEA Internacional.

Transparency International and Carter Center. 2007. Crinis Informe financiamiento en América Latina.

Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

Consorcio Nacional de Consultoria S.A. ¡ALERTA EN VISPERAS DE ELECCIONES¡ Más de 60% de los partidos y movimientos políticos colombianos continúan presentando problemas en el manejo contable de sus finanzas y en la rendición de cuentas a la ciudadanía. [ LINK ]

CAMPAÑAS Y DINERO: UN ARMA DE DOBLE FILO. PNUD. Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Humano. Marzo 2006 # 3. [ LINK ]

Can citizens access records related to political financing?

22a: In practice, political parties and candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Parties should present financial reports every year and after each election period, but they disclose this information to the Electoral Council and rarely to the public. Additionally, after an electoral reform was issued in 2003 introducing the system of open lists, parties centralize the information on individual candidates, and thus citizens can access general party accounts and only very limited information on the candidates. Experts on party funding consider that parties only report about 30 percent of their real donations.

References: Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

Transparency International and Carter Center. 2007. Crinis, Informe financiamiento en América Latina.

De la Calle, Humberto. 2003. ANÁLISIS COMPARATIVO SOBRE FINANCIAMIENTO DE CAMPAÑAS Y PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS COLOMBIA. Unidad para la promoción de la democracia OEA, IDEA Internacional.

22b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: When the National Electoral Council audits the financial reports where parties and candidates disclose their sources of funding and expenditures, the reports should be published in a magazine with national coverage. However, these reports do not include the annexes, where contributors appear, and thus, if citizens want to access this data, they have to make a specific request to the electoral body. There are long waiting times to obtain this information.

References: Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

Transparency International and Carter Center. 2007. Crinis Informe de Financiamiento en América Latina.

22c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties and candidates at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: After the National Electoral Council audits the financial reports where parties and candidates disclose their sources of funding and expenditures, the reports should be published in a magazine with national coverage. The wide perception is that these reports are effectively publicized, but it is not noticed by the citizens in general. Additionally, these reports do not include the annexes, where contributors appear, and thus, if citizens want to access this data, they have to make specific request to the political parties directly or through the electoral body and the release of documents is not guaranteed.

There might be high payments when common citizens want to access this information. It is important to note that the efforts of NGOs such as Transparency for Colombia and Congreso Visible in inviting candidates to disclose information on a voluntary basis have reduced the costs of accessing some basic information. However, the problem here is also that candidates do not report complete information.

References: Moreno, Maria Fernanda. 2006. ¿Y las cuentas?. Votebien.com [ LINK ]

Transparency International and Carter Center. 2007. Crinis Informe de financiamiento en América Latina.