Electoral Campaign Funding in Draft of New Election Code

According to the draft of new electoral code political parties will receive GEL 1 million from the state budget in case of clearing 5% threshold in order to cover election campaign costs.

GEL 300,000 out of this sum will specifically be used for covering TV advertisement cost. Prices on political TV ads ahead of elections usually are increasing ten-fold on the most-watched national broadcasters.

The proposal also envisages doubling of limits set for donations to a party’s electoral campaign fund.

The proposal offers to allow a party to receive GEL 60,000 as a donation from a single individual and GEL 200,000 from a single company.

According to the existing electoral code, a party can raise no more than GEL 30,000 from a single individual and no more than GEL 100,000 from a single company.

In the May, 2010 local elections campaign of those five parties, which have cleared 5% electoral threshold was worth of up to GEL 16 million and almost 90% of this sum was the ruling National Movement’s share. Much of the ruling party’s funding came from companies with most of them operating in road construction business.