The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
22 December 2007
Addis Ababa — A draft political parties registration proclamation has met resistance from the opposition in parliament.
The draft proclamation, which will replace the current one governing the laws of registration, has added articles restricting sources of donation for locally registered parties.
According to the draft proclamation, no party shall accept donations from foreigners, foreign governments, political parties based in other countries, aid organizations, NGOs, faith-based groups or organizations, convicts or unidentified sources.
Any party which accepts the kind of donation which is banned by the proclamation will have that donation confiscated.
The proclamation says that if any party received the prohibited donation, it has to hand it over to the electoral board.
Parties must also keep record of donors and the amount of donations they pledged or the amount of donation already received by the parties.
EDUP-Medhin and OFDM, two opposition parties which are represented in parliament, have opposed the draft proclamation.
EDUP-Medhin's parliamentary whip Abdurahman Amedin says that the restrictions limiting the sources of donation for parties is not practical given the current situation in the country. He cited donors' preference for remaining anonymous, which, according to the proposed proclamation, will be impossible.
Abdurahman also pointed out that under the present law, although it is stated that all parties shall receive budget support from the government, in the past 15 years no significant support was extended to parties, and that in the draft law this should also be clearly put.
Bulcha Demeksa, chairman of OFDM, also criticized the draft law for demanding to reveal the names of individual donors which amounts to discouraging them from donating. He said that if government put restrictions on donations, it has to come up with the finance to cover for the expenses of parties. He pointed out that the sources of small donations are not revealed in any country.
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