Election expenditure report
WITH the deadline for submitting poll expenditure reports to the Election Commission expiring today, only four out of the 38 political parties that took part in the December 29 general election have so far complied with the requirement. Worse still, none of the major parties figure in the first four.
Submission of election expenditure accounts to the EC, we believe, is a necessary exercise for making sure that the contestants kept within the stipulated expenditure ceiling for the sake of the integrity of the electoral process. It is no secret that candidates often spend staggering amounts of money to get elected, and thus the seeds of corruption are sown in a way from the very beginning. The credibility of the hearsay that in the past many lawmakers tried to recover the spent amount with interest, once they were elected, has never been questioned. Moreover, huge election expenditures also tend to create an uneven playing field, as the candidates with less money, but a lot more integrity and competence, find themselves at a disadvantage.
One would have expected the leading political parties to respond to EC 's directive as a matter of top priority. The parties have to be driven by an urge to comply with the rules. It is the political parties, otherwise so vocal against corruption, which have to lead from the front by setting an example of transparency. Only rhetorical denunciation of corruption will carry little conviction.
The political parties are exposing themselves to criticism by dragging their feet on an important obligation. First, the issue of accountability, which is inseparable from transparency in all activities of the parties, seems to be sidetracked. Secondly, non-compliance with EC rules sends a wrong signal regarding the intent of the political parties. Obviously, people might begin to think whether the parties have anything to hide as far as those expenditures are concerned. Logically speaking, submission of such reports should not have been a particularly difficult job, if there was no violation of rules by the parties. Thirdly, there will be reason enough to believe that the parties are not at all interested in electoral reforms designed to pave the way for honest and educated people to become public leaders.
The EC will, reportedly, extend the time for submission of the reports by another 30 days. We hope the political parties will be awakened to the need for observing the rules and submitting the election expenditure reports within the extended time-limit.
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