The Central Election Commission (CEC) suggested diminishing the cap on donations for financing political parties and on party membership dues. The proposal was included in a bill that was drafted by a working group. In a roundtable meeting, CEC chairman Iurie Ciocan said the proposal was formulated after it was established that the number of donors decreased over the last five election campaigns, but the volume of money used in elections increased. “This shows that dependence appears while the political parties are in power,” said Iurie Ciocan. The measure is aimed at offering the parties the possibility of becoming mass parties and of having a large number of donors legally. Under the proposal, the private individuals will be able to contribute 20 average monthly salaries to political parties, i.e. 71,000 lei yearly. Earlier, the amount was 500 average monthly pays. The legal entities will be allowed to contribute at most 40 average monthly salaries or 142,000 lei a year, as against 1,000 average pays earlier. The donations will be made through banks. If the money is donated to the party in cash, the private individuals will have to confirm the donation by signing a statement that will be attached to the financial accounts of the party. The legal entities that will have outstanding debts older than 60 days to the state budget, the social insurance budget and the health insurance budget on the day they will want to make donations will not be able to make them. The foreigners and foreign legal entities, other states and international organizations will also not be able to make donations. The state budget incomes earmarked for financing parties will represent 0.2%, which is 42.7 million lei. For the parties to get this money, they must achieve certain electoral results, take part in elections and garner at least 2% of the vote in the last parliamentary elections. “By offering money from the state budget, we aim to diminish the dependence on donors,” said Iurie Ciocan. The parties will have to report on their activities, to provide annual financial reports and to declare their incomes and the donations made to them, including the donated sum and the identity of the donor. They will also have to report on other costs incurred, besides those for the election campaign. The CEC also proposed penalties for violations of the legislation. The punishment for falsifying financial reports will be a fine of 4,000 to 10,000 lei or up to three years’ imprisonment. The appropriation of donations will be fined 4,000 to 10,000 lei or punished with up to four years in jail. The misuse of the state budget allocations will be punished with a fine of 60,000 to 100,000 lei or up to five years in prison. The working group that drafted the bill consists of representatives of the central authorities and political parties and of experts of nongovernmental organizations and the development partners.