Public funding of political parties grows democracy

One phenomenon that is changing the face of Africa is the commitment and drive by the masses to make democracy the cardinal reference point for which the leadership, development and the aspirations of the continent can be met.

As a result, many people from all walks of life are willing to sacrifice their widow?s mite just to realise the full potentials of democracy. Some have even paid the highest price- lost their lives or have even been maimed. Hence, the clarion call for all and sundry to protect, preserve, develop, contribute, advance and espouse the solid ideas that make democracy the best human development institution that cannot be taken for granted.

So the adage goes: ?The worst form of democracy is better than the best form of authoritarian or military regime.? How reasonable can this be- having the worst form of something still better than the best form of another?

This indicates that democracy has values and that notwithstanding some of its negatives, nothing whatsoever can match its values irrespective of the stage it has gone.

But can democracy survive if adequate resources are not generated for its development? Certainly not! It is well acknowledged that democracy is a costly venture but its benefits far outweigh the cost consequences.

Democracy and political parties

There is no question about the fact that one pillar of democratic tenets is the institution of political parties. Being the focal points for mobilisation, political parties are the engines through which various choices are made for the advancement of democracy.

They are also the platform for communication and propagation of ideas for the masses to determine which direction better meets their aspirations.

But one area that is fast dimming the brightness of political parties in their avowed responsibilities is that of funding. Funding of political parties has been one critical area that many do not want to dare even in well-developed democratic societies across the globe. The corruption scandals that have been identified with even well institutionalised political parties and their leadership to a certain degree undermine political parties as the machinery to effectively realise democratic values.

For instance the issue of the loan scandals of the Labour Party in UK, the conviction in 1998 of Osaka oil dealer Tzui Jun'ichi, the Elf scandal in Germany involving Helmut Kohl in 1999, the corruption scandals of the Spanish socialist government of Felipe González, including the Filesa and AVE cases in 1996 and the Canyellas case. These instances point to the fact that parties are not angels when it comes to funds.

Nevertheless, we need political parties to make democracy work despite the negative circumstances. Developing democracy calls for stronger representation, accountability, effective competition and integrity in the electoral system, fairness and equality, citizen mobilisation and participation, ownership, commitment to transparency, elimination of societal corruption, adherence to rule of law, and building leadership capacities to steer affairs productively.

Interestingly, no single individual or organisation can better facilitate these democratic values than political parties. So resourcing them is just to ensure that democracy is protected.

Funding of political parties

Fifteen years down the democratic process, the hard truth has emerged that our current system of funding political activities- founding fathers/mothers seed money, dues, donations, and fundraising- is untenable. Many believe that alternative sources of funding political parties are no more a question of when but how. That is why the nation should take a critical look into this emerging opinion, more especially when a sitting president continuously draws our attention to it.

Significantly, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has formally and professionally taken such bold initiative to realise the dream of many silent democrats. The IEA?s facilitation process to get all stakeholders to face the ?ugly scene? of political parties funding in a more holistic manner and to actualise such opinions in a more cogent and coherent process must be welcome and possibly given the necessary support.

It is important to stress that the IEA?s proposal is not that of state funding as being referred to by some journalists and contributors on the issue but public funding where persons and institutions interested in supporting Ghana?s democracy are encouraged to contribute financial resources within certain legal parameters.

The modalities of IEA?s proposal together with the stakeholders have been set and hopefully a concise and forward looking system would be accepted by all.

Of course many are not enthused about it as we have mountains of problems to solve to meet basic needs of life- water issues, sanitation galore, health mudding, and child ?streetism?, energy that cannot energise or power us, food items being destroyed due to poor road access, education problems, and many retro-progressing developments. In such condition, who in the right frame of mind will consider supporting political parties financially, more especially when it is no secret that all of our political parties have, since 1992, not been able to satisfy the financial reporting responsibilities as constituted in the 1992 Constitution and the Political Parties Act 2000 (Act 574).

Some question why we should trust political parties with public funds when they have time and again failed to adhere to basic financial provisions required by law to promote democratic transparency and accountability.

In spite of that the fact remains the same: a position has to be taken on the matter so we can begin to fine tune it progressively and productively over time to support our democracy. For how long can we behave like the ostrich?

As a nation we should be proud that we have made significant strides in our search for wealth to such an extent that funding an institution that will help us grow and develop faster, democratically and politically, should not be seen as something that is above intellect and capacity in spite of our ?poverty?.

The considerations

Much as I support this idea of public funding of political parties, I will like those whose lap the final decision would be taken to look deeper into some likely consequences it will have on deepening democracy through party politics.

Public funding may be a recipe to sacrifice genius fundraising leaders for other kinds of leadership skills who may behave like the average civil servant- waiting for public fund before initiating something. When it happened so the innovation, the drive and the conviction or belief to move forward would be hampered. We shall rather groom arm-chair politicians ready to function only when ?cash? is available. In this way democracy will suffer and certainly Ghana will remain the big loser.

Another area that we should look at is whether the identifiable sources have the capacity to either strengthen or weaken party cohesion. We need a balance between party cohesion and financial sources such that we do not sacrifice the former for the latter for any reason. Cohesion is very critical for any institutional development such that any financial resources that have the tendency to decimate it must be looked at with eagle?s eyes.

We have come to realise during the past 15 years that people?s contributions to political activities are motivated largely by ideological concerns. This serves as the umbilical cord between supporters and the parties such that any attempt that will make supporters feel unrecognised in the political chain has the tendency to dent democratic progress. We should note that public financing schemes are likely to crash with certain status quo and if the right approach is not adopted it is likely to fail.

Related to this is the fact that parties become less responsive to activists once they feel that a budget is legally ?sitting? somewhere at their disposal. Once this happens there is the potential development of a political barrier to separate party leadership from its activists and this will harm any democratic development. How do we ensure that parties are not cut off from their hard core activists in the midst of ?free-flowing? money?

The effectiveness and efficiency of parties to initiate policies that look much deeper into solving societal problems will also be undermined as there is a causal relationship between the flow of funds and policy positions of party members. The challenge for parties to initiate well thought-out policies to entice the populace to support them materially and financially is weakened once funds are available.

Then is the issue of who actually utilise the money- the candidates or the parties? Even though public funding can free candidates to make independent decisions, in situations where certain elements are so powerful within the party structure, extra care must be taken in siding with public funding as these people and their cronies will ultimately be the beneficiaries of such funding. Of course public funds can free political parties from the influence of wealthy donors, but the possibility of influential persons clamouring for ?free money? is likely to happen.

We should also determine the extent to which such funds would be used to develop the human capacities of the parties such that fair and equal opportunity will exist for every capable and eligible person to contest for any position or election. In this case it is better to establish political parties? development fund where each party establishes a foundation (under the fund) for purposes of training and education, advocacy, workshops, etc with the view to building the human resource capacities of the parties and at the same time keeping the ideologies and principles of the parties in perspective.

Finally, to what extent can public funding impact the electoral process. How will the Electoral Commission be strengthened to deal with issues of vote buying, rigging, corruption, incumbency advantages and a host of other problems associated with the extra cash injections that are likely to mar the democratic process?

Conclusion

It is important to stress that public funding in Ghana now should not be seen as a waste of scarce national resources. Our mentality, our attitude, our ability to determine what we want to achieve from the process will either make or unmake the process a waste. If some of these inexhaustible factors are taken into account we can make it.

The potential is there and the opportunities are enormous. At least we will manage to sustain good governance through functioning democratic political system that have the financial gut to constantly and systematically arouse political debate, sustain education and mobilise the masses politically.

When this is done it is democracy that grows!

Email: sethnketiah03599888@yahoo.com