The Dispatch

The Dispatch in a another front page headlined reads: "Limited Funds For Political Parties." According to the story a new Political Party Bill, is ready to be laid before Parliament. "The Political Parties Act, 1999" as the bill is known, was among some of the bills approved of after government had discussed a number of proposals. It is reported that government rejected proposals for the creation of a Central Fund into which contributions and donations could be made by both local and foreign companies for the benefit of all political parties because could be a subject of abuse. 'The dispatch' says on insider says the rejection is based on experience from other countries which show that such a fund could give rise to under-hand dealings, "a recipe for confusion". The proposal says that since merged parties lose their separate identities and take on a new identity they should be treated as an entirely new party which must go through the entire process of registration. Government is reported to have extended the period for registered Parties to declare their assets from 30 to 60 days. The Dispatch story also has it that government has accepted in principle, the recommendation of state support for political parties