ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The political parties in the country have diverse means to raise funds, with the larger chunk of the sources remaining hidden from public scrutiny.

According to Political Parties Order 2002, the parties are supposed to keep record of their membership and contributions made by members or supporters. The PPO-2002 says any contribution made directly or indirectly, by any foreign government, multi- national or domestically incorporated public or private company, firm, trade or professional association is prohibited and the parties may accept contributions and donations only from individuals. The law explains that contribution or donation include a contribution or donation made in cash, stocks, hospitality, accommodation, transport, fuel and provision of other such facilities.

According to a study, “The State of Political Parties in Pakistan,” conducted by political analyst Zafarullah Khan of Liberal Forum Pakistan, very few people exactly know the way politics are funded in Pakistan.

The study said by and large political parties kept their lips zipped on the subject.

“It was only in 1994 that a former director general of Inter Services Intelligence confessed that the agency distributed over Rs140 million among favourite politicians during the 1990 election. Apart from this covert support from the state, it is an open secret that many interest groups do invest on various political parties,” the study said.

Legally, political parties in Pakistan can raise their funds through membership fee and individual voluntary contributions made by Pakistani citizens.

The political parties raise bulk of their funds by charging fee for the election tickets.

According to the study, the cost of such tickets varies from the maximum of Rs50,000 for Pakistan Muslim League-Q’s ticket for technocrats to Rs1000 for the ticket by fringe parties. Interestingly, the study said, the tickets of religious political parties, including JUI-S, JUI-F and Jamaat-i-Islami, were awarded without charging any fee. Other parties that do not sell their tickets include Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Balochistan National Movement, it added.

The study raised doubts that the exact amount of money that the parties were able to raise through such mechanism remained an un-answered question as none of the political parties had ever made financial statement public. They were also reluctant to give or show it to our researchers, despite making the claim that they did make such statement public, the study said. A many as 25 political parties were contacted for details of their funding sources during the course of the study.

The study said in the absence of factual information, only estimates could be made at best. For example, it said, one of the country’s largest parties, the Pakistan People’s Party, fixed the fee of Rs25,000 for its Senate and National Assembly ticket, and Rs15,000 for the provincial assembly ticket.

According to a newspaper report, it received more than 1500 applications from all over the country. Therefore, on an average, the party received Rs20,000 per application and one could guess that the party was able to collect about Rs30 million. Yet, another mode of raising funds is adopted by the PML-Q, which made it mandatory for all 43 members of Central Working Committee to contribute Rs10,000 annually.

The study observed that contrary to the provisions of the Political Parties Order-2002 which put check on collective private or corporate donations, 22 out of 25 parties contacted for the study, said they accepted private donations. Fourteen said they did accept corporate donations, whereas one newly- formed party, Qaumi Jamhoree Party, said it had yet to take a decision in this regard. Seventeen parties said they made their accounts public, while three religious parties said the party’s financial statement were shared only with the members.

Responding to the questions pertaining to funding reforms, 21 parties felt that there was a need to reform the way political parties were funded, while 17 supported the idea of public funding and tax rebated political donations from the citizens of Pakistan. In the light of these findings, there appears to be an overwhelming desire for political funding reforms, at least, among the political parties, the study recommended.

According to a study, “The Public Funding of Political Parties-An International Comparative Study,” conducted by National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, in Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, South Africa, Sweden and Zimbabwe, political parties received state funding. In Germany, Israel, South Africa, Sweden and Zimbabwe, political parties also get Party Operating Expenses. In few countries, including Australia, Canada, and United States, individual candidates also get public funds to realize their dreams of political career.

The nature of funding shapes the dynamics of political processes in the society and in most developed democracies, political parties receive funding from both private and public sources.