Interview with member of parliament Ts.Munkhtsetseg was held. She is the leader of the working group for drafting the revision of the Law on Political Parties.
How is the work of the revision of the Law on Political Parties going?
- Section 1, 2, and 3of the Article 191 of the Constitutional Amendment adopted in 2019 are the main basis for the reform of the Law on Political Parties. By adopting these, the parties should conduct policies and activities at the national level, openly announce their sources of funding and income, and disclose their assets to the public. The draft reflecting all these regulations, has been prepared by the working group. President U.Khurelsukh has submitted the draft to deepen the reform of political parties, improving ethics and disciplinary responsibility, and introducing legislation related to the transparency of their funding. Now it’s important that the President must get the draft approved.
Political parties, civil society and international organizations gave their opinion on the project and repeatedly held discussions. For example, independent experts from organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s Democratic Institutions, Human Rights Office, and the Venice Commission came and offered their recommendations to the bill. When developing the bill, the main criteria set in democratic countries were met and necessary regulations were reflected. International organizations highlighted the importance of conforming to international human rights standards when reforming political parties from the beginning. The structure and organization of the bill is good, it covers most issues regulated by this type of legislation, and it is evaluated by the organizations that the distribution of state funding includes a balanced representation of gender and social groups.
You said it’s important to for the President to get the bill approved. However, depending on how amendments to the Constitution and Law on Parliamentary Elections will be discussed, it seems like it’s being postponed. It’s as if politicians and rulers don’t like revising the Law. What do you think about this?
- Regardless of the electoral system, it’s advisable to discuss the bill on political parties. In other words, the law should be approved before discussing law on parliamentary elections. Regardless of the electoral system, parties need to disclose their donations and funding, have internal democracy, and have a fair and open nomination mechanism. The Constitution states that it’s forbidden to amend the law on parliamentary elections one year before parliamentary election, so it must be approved by the next spring session or by June.
The bill was discussed to be approved by the last three parliament. Specifically, in 2013, I was working as deputy researcher in a working group led by then Chairman of the Standing Committee on State Organization S.Bayartsogt. We researched laws and regulations on parliament parties of other countries and gave recommendations, but the parliament didn’t approve it. Parties then couldn’t find common ground to approve it. We also tried to have it approved in 2016 and failed. I believe the current parliament will commit the same mistake. This law is one of the 40 laws to be approved according to the amendments of the constitution made in 2019.
International trend is going to charge lower taxes from members and increase government funding
What will the main funding for parties be and how is it stated on the project?
- Based on twenty years of research on political parties, there are two main styles of political party systems in the world. Firstly, parliamentary system like Europe, and secondly, presidential system like the United States and Latin American countries. Mongolia has a parliamentary system. Therefore, the German political system is more suitable for us. The role of parties in parliamentary countries is high so they’re supported by the government. In other words, the parties are financed by the government based on votes obtained in the elections, while the role of president is higher than parliament in a presidential system country. Therefore, the parties rely heavily on donations from individuals and companies. For example, the largest donor to members of the US Congress is the National Rifle Association. Human rights activists criticize the fact that firearms manufacturers are the main contributors to the rise in gun crime in American society, and that Congress is unable to make significant adjustments to the Firearms Act. However, in Europe, parties are main institution of political system and support comes from the budget. The system that has less corruption and lobbying is undoubtedly the European system.
We studied the relevant laws of more than 120 countries to draft the Political Party Law. From this, the most important from funding of parties in the world is the small amount of taxes for their members and supporters. Secondly, the government provides funding to parties that were selected in the elections, which is widely used internationally. Thirdly, individual and corporate donations are allowed with restrictions. In fact, according to the current Law on Political Parties of 2005, parties are supposed to be financed by the taxes of their members and supporters, but most of the members do not pay their taxes enough. Therefore, parties are financing the elections and major political actions and events by receiving donations from individuals and companies. This increases the risk of corruption. There is more risk of getting advantage from donating, influencing government policy, and lobbying. Therefore, many countries are moving towards limiting this and instead, charging less taxes from their members and increasing public funding.
There has been financing from the state for almost 20 years since the law was firstly approved in 2005. However, there are no records of how it was spent. In this case, it seems natural to criticize whether they need to be financed by taxpayers' money.
- Although there’s low trust in parties among the public, there’s no way to move forward without the party because it is the main determinant of political policy under a democratic regime. Therefore, parties should be developed into open political parties. The government is trying to support it. It can be said that parties have not been reformed in the past 30 years. No responsibility was given to political parties so far. Currently, there are 36 parties registered in the Supreme Court, but very few of them are active and participate in elections. Most of them are like the “private company” of the person who founded them, and citizens criticize that there should not be many parties. If the parliament passes a law and restricts the number of parties, it is anti-democratic and restricts the right of citizens to organize. Instead, it is important to create a legal framework that supports parties to develop and compete by their platforms. Excessive restrictions on the activities of parties adversely affects the basic principles of democracy. Therefore, keeping party competition equal and funding open and transparent are the main goal of the revision of the Law on Political Parties. Politics is supposed to be a field of political competition between parties.
Due to majoritarian electoral system used in the past, People’s Party and Democratic Party strengthened their position and influence. In the future, if there is a mixed electoral system, the number of parties entering parliament will increase. Therefore, the draft law states that parties express the political will of the people, connect government with citizens, provide political education to their members, support their participation, actively participate in national development policies and planning, and compete fairly in elections.
State fundings for inactive parties will be stopped
What does moving to inactive state mean?
- It’s international standard to move them to inactive category and reduce its status if the parties do not fulfill their obligations. Thus, it’s included in the bill. The main process for a political party to actively participate in country’s development is through voting. If the party hasn’t participated in elections for six consecutive years, they will be classified as inactive. Also, if the finances aren’t disclosed, don’t submit their financial reports to the central election body every year, ensure internal democracy of the party, and do not hold a meeting of the supreme governing body or central representative body within five years, they will be classified as inactive for two years. There are many parties in Mongolia that have not held a congress since their establishment, have not reported their activities to their members, have not held any meetings for more than a decade, have nothing but registration in the Supreme Court, and cannot find the relevant owner. This should be regulated by law. If an election is held during this penalty period, the candidate from that party will contest as an independent. That's because the party's status is inactive. Also, government funding for parties classified as inactive will be stopped. In case of elimination of errors and violations, the central election organization will restore their rights.
The bill states the state will fund parties that received more than three percent vote. What was the basis for three percent?
- To shape the party as a political party and express the voice of their voters. It also aims to ensure equal starting conditions for parties. More than 140 countries around the world, thresholds of one, two, or three are usually set at one to three percent. In addition, after studying the results of the 2016 and 2020 parliamentary elections, the total number of votes received from the voters of the parties will be three percent.
- The party with a seat in the Parliament is allocated 10 million MNT per member per year according to the number of seats it has won, and the state budget provides funding quarterly during the term of office. Do you plan to continue this? How will the government support the parties sitting in the parliament?
- The current mechanism will remain. The amount of money will be included in the annual state budget and financed in accordance with the minimum wage. However, the expenditure of support provided by the budget is specified in detail. For example, a certain percentage of the funds will be to support social interest groups such as women, youth, and people with disabilities, to improve the political education of its members and citizens, and to run a policy research institute. Because there is no such regulation in the current law, parties have not been transparent about their funding. If the law on political parties is revised, all parties will submit financial reports and information to the central election body and inform the public. The General Election Commission will audit the reports submitted by the parties, and after conducting external monitoring and analysis, will transfer the next funding from the state to those that are found to be free of violations. If there is a violation, the Central Election Authority will be given the right to take measures until the funding is stopped, if it is not fulfilled.
No donations to parties will be given from companies participated in government procurement in the last four years
In the current law, at maximum, 10 million MNT from legal entity and one million MNT from a citizen can be donated once a year to a party. How has this changed?
- People who can and cannot donate have been specified. Organizations who owe overdue loans or have a foreign investment and participated in government procurement in the past four years cannot donate. If donated, they cannot participate in government tenders. In one year, the maximum amount of individual donations should not exceed five million MNT, and that of enterprises should not exceed 20 million MNT.
What about membership?
- We did a lot of research and compared policy options. Taking first steps towards a relatively loose membership. For example, party members are categorized as members and supporters. A party member is defined as a citizen who accepts the ideology of the party, joins on a voluntary basis, pays membership fees, has the right to vote, or be elected. Parties can be free from business and political influence if their members pay taxes well. However, those who support the ideology of the party, join the party on a voluntary basis, and participate in its activities without paying taxes, are considered supporters.
Will the Supreme Court keep the right to register the party and its leadership?
- The right of citizens to join a trade union should be as open as possible, and the process of establishing and registering it was made clear, easy and open as possible. Starting from the founding of the party, all information is required to be factual. For example, one thing is clear from the controversy over the registration of the DP. That is the fact that many government institutions, such as the General State Registration Office, the General Election Committee, the Supreme Court, etc., are involved in the registration process. In the process, administrative and procedural violations are created, and the head of the party is not recognized just because of the seal. Therefore, only the General Election Committee is responsible for party registration. In other words, the materials submitted by the party will be scrutinized by the central election organization and will decide whether to register them or not. The legal basis for not registering a party must be very clear. However, the decision to dissolve the party on grounds such as violating the Constitution and threatening national security will be made by the Supreme Court.
