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2008 Assessment

West Bank: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

West Bank : Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Political Financing
Indicators		Score
20	Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?	29
21	Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?	33
22	Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?	0
23	Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?	0
24	Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?	8
25	Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?	17

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Are there regulations governing the financing of political parties?

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: There is no law regarding political parties.

Peer Review Comments: By Election Law, political parties cannot receive contributions from non-Palestinian sources.

Article 100 from Election Law: [ LINK ]

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: There is no law regarding political parties.

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: There is no law regarding political parties.

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

Score:

YES

Comments: Limits are only set for campaign budgets.

References: Law No. 9 of 2005, article 101, [ LINK ]

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

Score:

YES

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

Comments: Limits are only set for campaign budgets.

References: Law No. 9 of 2005, article 100, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Article 100 from Election Law asks candidates to disclose details of their resources.

[ LINK ]

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

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of party finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of political parties\' finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for parties to self-audit.$

Comments: Requirements are only set for campaign expenditures.

References: There is no law regarding political parties.

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

Score:

YES

Comments: Only campaign expenditures are monitored

References: There is no law regarding political parties.

Are there regulations governing the financing of individual political candidates?

21a: In law, there are regulations governing private contributions to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: There is no such regulation.

Peer Review Comments: Election Law prohibits individual candidates from receiving financial contributions from non-Palestinians sources.

Article 100 in Election Law: [ LINK ]

21b: In law, there are limits on individual donations to political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Law No. 9 of 2005, article 101, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: There is a limit on how much political parties and individuals can spend in their election campaigns, but there is no limit on how much they can receive as donations from individuals.

Article 101 in Election Law: [ LINK ]

21c: In law, there are limits on corporate donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: There is no such regulation.

21d: In law, there are requirements for the disclosure of donations to individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

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

Comments:

References: Law No. 9 of 2005, article 100, [ LINK ]

21e: In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the campaign finances of individual political candidates.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a legal or regulatory requirement for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures. The auditing is performed by an impartial third-party. NO: A NO score is earned if there are no legal or regulatory requirements for the independent auditing of an individual candidate\'s campaign finances and expenditures or if such requirements exist but allow for candidates to self-audit.$

Comments:

References: There is no such regulation.

21f: In law, there is an agency or entity that monitors the financing of individual political candidates' campaigns.

Score:

YES

$Scoring Criteria :: YES: A YES score is earned if there is a domestic agency or set of domestic agencies/entities formally assigned to monitor and enforce laws and regulations around the financing of individual political candidates\' campaigns. A YES score is earned even if the agency/entity is ineffective in practice. NO: A NO score is earned if there is no such agency or entity.$

Comments: The agency or entity that monitors the financing of individual political candidates' campaigns is called the Central Elections Committee (CEC).

References: Law No. 9 of 2005, article 100, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Article 100 from Election Law asks candidates to disclose their financial resources, but it doesn't ask them to provide the Central Election Committee with details of their spending.

Are the regulations governing the political financing of parties effective?

22a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political parties are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), April 2007, "Twelfth Annual Report- The Human Rights Status in Palestine 2006."

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Election Law puts no financial limit on individuals to donate to political parties or individual candidates.

22b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to political parties are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a political party.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), April 2007, "Twelfth Annual Report- The Human Rights Status in Palestine," 2006.

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

22c: 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: The law does not set a limit on total party expenditure. The only provisions limiting party expenditures are related to campaign expenditures.

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), April 2007, Twelfth Annual Report- The Human Rights Status in Palestine 2006."

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

22d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), April 2007, "Twelfth Annual Report- The Human Rights Status in Palestine 2006."

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

22e: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of political parties imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), April 2007, "Twelfth Annual Report- The Human Rights Status in Palestine 2006."

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

22f: In practice, contributions to political parties are audited.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), April 2007, "Twelfth Annual Report- The Human Rights Status in Palestine 2006."

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

Are the regulations governing the political financing of individual candidates effective?

23a: In practice, the limits on individual donations to political candidates are effective in regulating an individual's ability to financially support a particular candidate.

Score:

100

Comments: The law does not set a limit on individual contributions to candidates. There is only a prohibition against receiving foreign financing.

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

23b: In practice, the limits on corporate donations to individual candidates are effective in regulating a company's ability to financially support a candidate.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

23c: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns independently initiates investigations.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency or entity aggressively starts investigations into allegations of wrong doing with respect to the financing of individual candidates\' campaigns. The agency is fair in its application of this power. 50 Score Criteria: The agency or entity will start investigations, but often relies on external pressure to set priorities, or has limited effectiveness when investigating. The agency, thought limited in effectiveness, is still fair in its application of power. 0 Score Criteria: The agency or entity rarely investigates on its own, or the agency or entity is partisan in its application of this power.$

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

23d: In practice, when necessary, an agency or entity monitoring the financing of individual candidates' campaigns imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: No penalties were imposed on those candidates who overspent. This was probably not seen as a major issue since those who reported overspending did not win a seat in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: The judicial system is not effective or independent.

23e: In practice, the finances of individual candidates' campaigns are audited.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are regularly audited using generally accepted auditing practices. 50 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are audited, but audits are limited in some way, such as using inadequate auditing standards, or the presence of exceptions to disclosed contributions. 0 Score Criteria: The finances of individual candidates\' campaigns are not audited, or the audits performed have no value in tracking contributions. Audits may be performed by entities known to be partisan or biased in their practices.$

Comments:

References: Professional study, Aman, February 2006, "Which Parties Law We Want?" [ LINK ]

Professional study, Hadeel Qazzaz, 2007, "Reconstruction National Integrity System Survey," [ LINK ]

Can citizens access records related to the financing of political parties?

24a: In practice, political parties disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Political parties are not required to disclose information relating to their finances except that relating to the financing and expenditures of their electoral campaigns.

References: Taleb Awad, researcher, The Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy-Muwatin, Sept. 17, 2008 MoP. Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, AMAN's Commissioner for Combating Corruption, Transparency Palestine-AMAN, Sept. 20, 2008, AMAN Coalition.

24b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: While financial reports concerning electoral campaigns are presented to the Central Election Committee (CEC) they are not publicly disclosed and citizens do not have access to them.

References: Taleb Awad, researcher, The Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy-Muwatin, Sept. 17, MoP Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, AMAN's Commissioner for Combating Corruption, Transparency Palestine-AMAN, Sept. 20, 2008, AMAN Coalition.

24c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of political parties at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: There is no access to the financial records of political parties.

Can citizens access records related to the financing of individual candidates' campaigns?

25a: In practice, individual political candidates disclose data relating to financial support and expenditures within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Candidates are not required to reveal the sources of their financial support.

Peer Review Comments: Article 100 from Election Law asks individuals to reveal financial resources within one month. Winning candidates submit their financial reports withing that time.

25b: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: The revenues are not reported, and there is no access to the reports on expenditures.

Hisham Kuhail, Chief Electoral Officer, Central Election Committee (CEC), Sept. 23, 2008, residence.

25c: In practice, citizens can access the financial records of individual candidates (their campaign revenues and expenditures) at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: There is no public access to financial records of individual candidates.