Moldova’s pro-European president, Maia Sandu, who has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused Russia of trying to oust her in a coup, said Moscow had channelled the equivalent of nearly $5 million in two months in financing for “criminal groups”. These include a banned party led by fugitive businessman Ilan Shor.
Moldovans vote on Sunday in elections seen as a barometer of Sandu’s pro-European drive. A open-air rally tens of thousands strong in Chisinau backed her policies in May, but support is less certain in smaller cities and rural areas.
Having state funding as a basis is fantastic and I like that Germany has this as do many other countries. But if the corporate and other donations get top big there will always be a conflict of interest. If you do certain things you’ll get more funding from certain groups. Those who get more funding will have more money to campaign for the election. In gaming this would be called pay to win I guess.
The other issue is that in Germany groups get around donation limits and having to disclose donation sources for larger sum donations by splitting them into smaller chunks and sending them through multiple organisations. That’s why I’d like parties having to disclose every single donation. That’d at least show where their biases might lie.