Brazil may ban corporate donations to political parties

RUKMINI S. From The Hindu

The President of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, the body which conducts and regulates the country’s elections, says he has voted against corporate donations to political parties to combat the problem of money power in elections.

Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli, who is Brazil’s youngest Supreme Federal Court judge at 47, is in India this week meeting officials of the Election Commission, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as well as Supreme Court judges.

Justice Dias Toffoli told The Hindu that he had proposed to his government that a citizen database on the lines of UIDAI be created. The country is in the process of moving towards biometric authentication of the voter at the time he or she presses the button on the electronic voting machine.

On the issue of the growing hold of money over elections, Justice Dias Toffoli said, “This is something that not just Brazil or India, but all countries of the world have a problem with.” Brazil had no limit on the amount of donations a politician or party may receive or spend, but the judge said the country was discussing introducing a ceiling.

In a case being heard in Brazil’s apex court, Justice Dias Toffoli said he had already voted against corporate donations, which currently help candidates meet 95 per cent of the expenditure.

“The way I see it, corporates can’t vote, people can. So democracy should be strengthened, and people should fund democracy.”

Political advertisements on radio and TV are banned in Brazil and newspaper advertising is highly restricted. Parties get limited free airtime in proportion to the votes they received in the previous election. In addition, for three months before the election, the media is banned from airing news that favours any party. “We have had these rules in place since 1965, and I think they are very effective,” Justice Dias Toffoli said.

Three Supreme Federal Court judges, including Justice Dias Toffoli, serve both on the apex court and on the electoral court, often working until 2 a.m. Yet, the court has been in the past described as among the world’s most overburdened. “In 2004, we brought in reforms which made Supreme Court rulings the law of the land. This has greatly reduced the court’s workload...”

There is wide popular anger against corruption, and the government has responded, Justice Dias Toffoli said. Passed in 2010, the Clean Record Law, which debars corrupt candidates from running for office, was made applicable in the 2014 Presidential election for the first time. “It brought down the number of people with legal problems in their past running for office,” he said.