Expanding the Ban on Foreign Funding to Involve Natural and Legal Entities

The National People’s Assembly Committee on Legal Affairs and Freedoms has finalised its supplementary report on the draft law concerning political parties.

The report proposes a compromise version of the six amendments, while withdrawing five amendments submitted by members of parliament. A new article has been added to strengthen oversight of party financing and prohibit the receipt of donations or support from foreign sources, whether legal entities or individuals, resident or non-resident. Penalties for violations include imprisonment for 5 to 10 years and a fine of up to one million dinars.

The complementary report on the draft, reviewed by Echorouk, stated that the committee’s discussions resulted in the acceptance of one amendment and the rejection of another for legal and substantive reasons. Consensus was reached on six amendments, and the proponents of five amendments withdrew their proposals after being satisfied with the clarifications provided by the committee, along with representatives from the Ministries of the Interior, Local Authorities, and Transport. In the same vein, the committee introduced amendments to four articles of the text to enhance the consistency of the draft’s provisions and strengthen its implementation effectiveness, as stated in the report.

In this context, the amendments included Article 75, which now prohibits political parties from receiving any funding from a foreign source, whether directly or indirectly, from any legal or natural person, resident or non-resident, in any capacity or form whatsoever.

The committee also proposed amending Article 92 in line with the amendment to Article 75. In its explanatory memorandum, the committee stated that this amendment aims to harmonise the two articles and strengthen the deterrent framework concerning the financing of political parties from foreign sources. Accordingly, the amended Article 92 stipulates that any official of a political party who receives, directly or indirectly, any funding or support from a foreign source, whether a legal entity or a natural person, resident or non-resident, in any capacity or form whatsoever, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of 5 to 10 years, in addition to a fine ranging from 500,000 to 1,000,000 DZD.

Among the other amendments introduced by the committee was one to Article 32. The amended version stipulates that the convening of the founding conference of the political party must be documented in minutes prepared by a judicial officer. These minutes must include the titles and names of the founding members present and absent, as well as the number of attendees and their capacities, and must be initialled on the list of attendees.

The minutes also include the composition of the conference bureau and deliberative body, in addition to the ratification of the draft political program and the party’s constitution. The minutes further detail the composition of the political party’s executive body and the election of its head, or stipulate that the task of electing them be assigned to the deliberative body, which convenes for its first session within thirty days of the founding conference.

In the same context, the article stipulates that a copy of this record must be submitted via the designated digital platform, as part of the established procedures for monitoring the establishment of political parties and ensuring the documentation of their various legal stages.

Previously, the lower house members of parliament had submitted 53 amendments to the draft on political parties, but only 13 of these amendments were passed on to the Legal Affairs and Freedoms Committee for study and decision before the voting session scheduled for Monday, March 9.