Global Courant 2023-04-21 16:00:56
The political parties reported an expense of Q2 million 768 thousand 632.55 in the first four days of the electoral campaign.
The groups presented their financial reports for March. Because the electoral campaign began on the 27th of that month, the expense figure corresponds only to five days.
At the start of the campaign, only 50 percent of the political parties —15 groups— reported this type of expense in their financial reports.
The party that has invested the most is Valor with Q754 thousand 280; followed by All, with Q646 thousand 263.91; and in third place the National Unit of Hope (UNE) that spent in five days Q616 thousand 479.52.
The organizations that reported the least spending are: National Welfare (Good), with Q5 thousand 934.70; Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG-MAÍZ), Q2 thousand 100; and Vision with Values (Viva), which reported Q80.65.
For this electoral process, a budget ceiling of Q34 million 957 thousand 384 was set for each political party.
Parties that do not report expenses
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) detailed that 11 groups that did not report campaign expenses: National Advance Party (PAN), Podemos, Victoria, Winaq, Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP), Seed Movement, Republican Union (UR ), Republican Party (PR), Elephant Community, Opportunities and Development Party (Power) and the Nosotros party.
In addition, the TSE reported that three groups did not report income or expenses, which are Citizen Prosperity (PC), Partido Popular Guatemalteco (PPG) and Will, Opportunity and Solidarity (VOS). Regarding Mi Familia, he did not submit a report.
Judge Gabriel Aguilera explained that the Electoral and Political Parties Law (Leep) establishes that the first 15 days of the month political parties must deliver the financial report of the previous month. He also specifies sanctions in case they do not comply with providing said information.
Aguilera specified that the parameter of the fines ranges from US$50,000 to US$250,000, and that according to the type and severity of the infraction, within the sanctions the Leep also contemplates the cancellation of a political party as a last measure.
Canceled for exceeding campaign ceiling
In 2016, the TSE Citizen Registry canceled the Libertad Democrática Renovada (Líder) party, among other violations of the Lepp, for having exceeded the campaign ceiling set for the 2015 electoral process, which was Q52.4 million. The group had been founded on November 25, 2020 by Manuel Baldizón.
In August 2015, the group was sanctioned with a fine of US$100 thousand (about Q800 thousand) for exceeding the campaign ceiling, less than a month later it received another reprimand of US$250 thousand (approximately Q1 million 900 thousand), for not stopping the electoral campaign and it was later cancelled.
For the current process, Baldizón sought to reach Congress with the Cambio party, but the TSE revoked his registration as a candidate, which led to the group questioning the courts where the case is located.
Audit risks
Roberto Alejos, former president of Congress and director of the Caminemos Association, the reports that the organizations present to the TSE will not represent the reality of the resources invested.
“There it will only reflect what entered the accounts legally, which will not be even a tenth,” he said.
This is due to the amount of cash that is handled and that is not banked. According to Alejos, it could be a consequence of the fact that the citizen who contributes resources does not want to be linked to any party to get rid of investigations and because the reforms to the Lepp are very rigid in terms of the requirements that financiers must meet.
For this reason, he considers that the Electoral Update and Modernization Commission (Came) proposes to reform these points of the Lepp.
Along the same lines, the Lepp establishes that the parties must keep an accounting book with contributions in cash and one with contributions in kind. Also that all donations must be accepted and valued in a written report.
Jahir Dabroy, a researcher at the Association for Research and Social Studies (Asíes), added that there is a risk that some organizations receive contributions from organized crime or international associations.
Likewise, he said he hopes that financiers are aware that not reporting contributions is a crime.
Expenses increase in the first days
For the political scientist and university professor Ricardo Barrios, spending could rise since the amount spent at the start of the campaign was barely reported, but it must be verified month by month how the figures change to know the trend.
He explained that it is important to monitor the work of the departmental delegations, both from the TSE and from the parties, because that is where the transparency of the process is cemented since the expense reports are not enough.
“Monthly reports are important because they guarantee the certainty of spending but they are never enough if there is no political will, institutional capacity and citizen interest to generate more transparency, more quality of the electoral campaign and greater clarity in campaign spending in an articulated way,” he concluded. .
