Electoral competitors continued in the campaign preceding the June 2011 local elections to profit from the imperfect laws to evade reporting accurately campaign expenses. Some political parties only feigned a higher level of transparency, reporting more donors and at the same time smaller donations than in the previous elections. This is one of the conclusions contained in the study titled “Campaign financing in the 2011 local elections: A sample of medieval relations”, published on Thursday by the think-tank IDIS Viitorul, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the study, the expenses which are usually kept secret are the wages for the agitators, observers and consultants, as well as the costs of some illegal practices, like the stimulation of voters on election day. Electoral competitors also fail to report the actual numbers of copies of their printed campaign materials. Further, the study reveals the existence of some sort of vassal relations between the central and local structures of political parties, when the leadership of a party “buys” in the local elections the allegiance of local leaders by financing their campaigns in districts, towns and villages; however, this investment doesn't spare the leadership of blackmail from the “local barons” with threats to switch sides. The study points to the enduring deficiencies of the legislation which allow political parties and candidates to often interpret in very narrow senses some provisions and shirk responsibilities. It was estimated that the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party reported half of the amounts they actually spent, while the Communist Party and the Democratic Party only a third part, said Cornel Ciurea, a co-author of the study. Sergiu Lipcean, another co-author, noted that there are multiple cases of employment of administrative resources for campaign purposes, like the use of public buildings and cars. Also, candidates often don't report expenses for organizing concerts and parties in their support. Electoral gifts represent another common practice which goes unreported. The study recommends that the Moldovan authorities should forbid donations from sources that cannot be verified to prove the legal origin of the money; the authorities should also list expressly the expenses that must be reported by the parties and introduce a mechanism to punish financial violations.