The Five Demands

L’Electoral Commission, ringraziando per bocca del presidente Séamus Magee le istituzioni politiche per la puntualità nella presentazione dei bilanci, ha pubblicato il rendiconto finanziario di 11 partiti del Regno Unito che hanno registrato entrate o uscite pari ad almeno 250.000 sterline.
Significativo è il bilancio ‘in rosso’ del Sinn Fein, che ha presentato una contabilità separata per quanto riguarda l’Irlanda del Nord e la Repubblica d’Irlanda. Le spese hanno superato di £ 33.600 il totale delle entrate registrate nel Nord pari a £ 1.115.391.
Diverso il discorso per gli altri partiti, che sembrano essere rientrati nei ranghi o quanto meno di aver preso seriamente l’impegno a farlo.
Il SDLP, che nel 2007 aveva registrato una perdita di circa £ 130.000, è riuscito a raggiungere praticamente il pareggio con entrate per l’ammontare di £ 291.391 contro £ 290.169 in uscita.
Anche l’Ulster Unionist ha compiuto notevoli passi in avanti, chiudendo con entrate pari a £ 383.504 e uscite pari a £ 397.734.
Il DUP invece ha presentato 4 set di conti separati all’Electoral Commission, perciò non stati resi noti ulteriori dettagli.
A titolo di paragone, i partiti britannici hanno tutti presentato bilanci nell’ordine di milioni di sterline.

Sinn Féin is North’s biggest spending political party (The Irish Times)
Sinn Fein is Northern Ireland’s biggest spending party, official figures published by the Electoral Commission show.
However the party, which has to file separate accounts North and South, also slipped into the red. It spent just over £33,600 (€39,381) more than its income in the North of £1,115,391.
The commission has released the financial returns of 11 UK parties which have a gross income or expenditure of £250,000 or more.
The figures show that the SDLP has rebalanced its books by raising £291,391 and cutting its expenditure to £290,169. The party recorded losses of some £130,000 in 2007.
The Ulster Unionists, who were deeply in debt, have also made strides towards balancing its expenditure and income. The party declared an income of £383,504 and spent £397,734.
It has slashed its costs by some £100,000 and reduced its debt by about £300,000, partly through the sale of a stake in its east Belfast HQ and moving to more modest accommodation.
The DUP has submitted four sets of accounts to the commission which fall below the £250,000 threshold and details have not been published about its expenditure.
By way of comparison, the main British parties declared incomes measured in tens of million of pounds. The British Labour Party raised just over £34 million and spent £26.2 million while the Conservatives raised £32.36 million and spent £31.9 million.
Séamus Magee, head of the Electoral Commission’s Northern Ireland office, said all the parties appreciated the need for transparency and submitted their accounts within the statutory deadline.