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SAO Slovakia organises a conference on party and campaign finance audit

Published: 20.11.2024
The financing of political parties and election campaigns must be effectively and efficiently controlled. The setting of the use of public funds that parties receive from the state budget is also important. Representatives of foreign control institutions, academics, practitioners, as well as third-sector experts, will discuss how to improve existing funding and control models at the SAO's international conference in Bratislava next week on Wednesday, 27 November 2024. "Public trust in the state and in democratic institutions starts with trust in the political system. It also depends on how parties and politicians use public funds and approach scrutiny. Finances that enter party budgets through fictitious donors or dead souls undermine the principles of democracy and become a grave digger of fairness in transparent political competition," stressed Ľubomír Andrassy, the president of the SAO.

In European countries, there are different models for financing political parties and movements based on a combination of state subsidies, private donations and membership fees. The topic of streamlining instruments for controlling party funding is also relevant for other control institutions. "We aim to create a space for discussion on which procedures are proving to be functional, optimal, and inspiring not only for Slovakia, " the head of the SAO stressed. In Slovakia, the control of finances for political parties falls under the competence of the State Commission for Elections and Control of Political Party Financing. "One thing is the issue of control, and another is the subsequent enforcement of decisions in case of irregularities. A current example of the translation of the findings of the audit into practice is the decision of the Polish State Election Commission, which rejected the financial report of the Law and Justice party and the party will lose a significant part of the state budget contribution, " Ľ. Andrassy.

The Bratislava International Conference on Control of Political Party and Election Campaign Financing is part of the SAO's events on the occasion of Slovakia's active participation in the highest bodies of EUROSAI. Currently, the President of the SAO, Ľubomír Andrassy, is the Vice President of this prestigious international organisation. Representatives of the audit authorities of Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia will come to Bratislava to discuss the issue. Matanyahu Englaman, the current President of EUROSAI and Israeli Auditor General, will also address the attendees online. The conference will also be attended and discussed by Ladislav Orosz, Professor of Constitutional Law, Patrik Krauspe, State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, Eduard Burda, Chairman of the State Commission for Elections and Control of Political Party Financing, and Michal Piško, Director of Transparency International Slovakia.

More information and programme of the conference is available.

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