Tribune. While most of the presidential candidates are now declared, with the exception of Emmanuel Macron, incumbent president whose candidacy is however not in doubt, this major election of the Ve République is weakened by the threats weighing on its sincerity, that is to say on the equality of the conditions of the competition, both for the financing of electoral campaigns and for access to audiovisual media.
The Bygmalion case is a shouting symbol of this vulnerability. How to speak of citizen confidence when it is still so easy to circumvent the rules of the game, the Constitution for example prohibiting the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Funding (CNCCFP) from controlling the spending of political parties while they- themselves are allowed to finance the campaigns of their candidates?
How not to worry regarding our democracy if a candidate elected and, therefore, protected by his presidential immunity, had his campaign accounts invalidated?
How to accept that a small number of donors finance a large part of a candidate’s expenses while benefiting from a tax reduction of 66% within the limit of 20% of their taxable income? [Les dons consentis par chaque personne à un ou plusieurs partis ne peuvent pas excéder 7500 euros.]
How not to wonder regarding the way in which the media interpret the fairness of speaking times during electoral campaigns, while respecting the pluralism of currents of ideas and opinions?
We, approved associations once morest corruption and breaches of probity, have formulated proposals to remove blind spots from the financing of presidential campaigns:
- Reinforcement of the investigative powers, resources and independence of the CNCCFP;
- Establishment of real-time control, during the campaign, of candidates’ campaign accounts and extension of this control to the accounts of political parties that support them;
- Public access to campaign accounts with no time limit;
- Extension of civil party rights for anti-corruption associations in cases relating to the financing of political life.
We were not heard. The measures adopted by the laws of September 15, 2017 for confidence in political life have posed useful safeguards, but have not dealt with the essential.
Interference in public debate
It is crucial to initiate a reflection on the powers to be conferred on the Constitutional Council in order to pronounce the ineligibility of the elected candidate in the event of a particularly serious breach of the rules for financing electoral campaigns, as is the case for parliamentary elections.
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