Party financing, corruption and traffic jams – Tony Zammit Cutajar

I wish to comment on three matters which I think are of vital importance to our country. I believe that corruption and tax evasion, which are inexorably linked, must one day be seriously tackled. Our ever-increasing traffic problem must not be allowed to spiral out of control. If this were to happen, we will soon reach gridlock and we shall inevitably all become stuck in never-ending traffic jams.

Fifteen years ago, in September 2007, I had submitted a Talking Point advocating the provision of state funding to political parties while simultaneously making it a criminal offence to make donations to politicians and political parties. The arguments I raised then are still valid today and, if anything, the situation has worsened.

I shall give an example which everybody will understand. A big businessperson/contractor or a self-employed person, for that matter, makes a sizeable donation, sometimes running into millions, prior to a general election on the pretext of “helping” the party or politician he/she backs.

If this party is eventually elected to government, the donor might/would put pressure on the party or politician to obtain a permit that should not have been granted or else...