{"id":237851,"date":"2016-08-09T17:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T17:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=237851"},"modified":"2016-08-09T17:00:05","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T17:00:05","slug":"funding-of-political-parties-will-burden-state-ifs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/funding-of-political-parties-will-burden-state-ifs\/","title":{"rendered":"Funding of political parties will burden state – IFS"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), is against proposals for the State funding of political parties, saying the country\u2019s economy is\u00a0not \u00a0strong enough to shoulder the burden of funding the over-20 recognized parties.<\/p>\n
The Governance Unit of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), had proposed the earmarking of two and a half percent of national revenue for supporting political parties.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”fl2kW8Ao2yJirB7qZ0YGm92oFwBXsLc6″]But Speaking to Citi News<\/strong>, the Resident Economist at the IFS, Dr. Adu Owusu Sarkodie, said\u00a0government is already too occupied with critical financial commitments.<\/p>\n \u201cAlready, we are overburdened with some revenue earmarking; the National health Insurance levy, Energy levy, District Assembly\u2019s common fund, road fund, GET fund etc.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Sarkodie advised political parties to be more resourceful in the raising of campaign funds instead of looking up to the state to fund their activities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe alternative here can be to look for donor support. Another way is to encourage political parties to undertake investment ventures. For example, the ANC [African National Congress] in South Africa, they have a mining company.\u201d<\/p>\n Arguments for state funding of parties<\/strong><\/p>\n The most recent comments on political party funding came from the Majority Leader in Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who rekindled the debate<\/a><\/strong><\/span> about the need for the state to sponsor political parties.<\/p>\n He sided with proponents of political party funding who believe the smaller political parties are struggling to contribute their quota effectively to multi-party democracy.<\/p>\n