Fidesz proposes amendment to law on campaign financing

Parties receiving less than 0.5 percent of the votes cast on party lists in the general election should be obliged to repay the state funding provided for their campaign, ruling Fidesz party group leader Gergely Gulyás said on Tuesday.

Members of the “main governing bodies” of the parties concerned should be liable for repaying these amounts from their own assets, Gulyás said about his party’s proposed amendment to the law on campaign financing he had co-authored with lawmaker Róbert Répássy.

Under the effective law, individual candidates failing to canvas 2 percent of votes have to pay back the 1 million forint (EUR 3,231) received for their campaign,

Gulyás told a press conference. He noted that the opposition parties had repeatedly criticised the law for not specifying any such hurdle for party lists, he said.

As the law on campaign financing can only be amended by at least two thirds of votes, the governing parties would need some votes from the ranks of the opposition, too, he said.

“Should the opposition refuse the proposal, it will be liable for all abuses of campaign financing,” Gulyás said.

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Photo: MTI

Source: MTI