Pluralism and the rule of law are essential to guaranteeing basic human rights and freedoms. They are prerequisites to having freedom, peace, security and justice.1 As a result, the requirement for free, democratic, pluralistic and competitive elections are foundation of modern constitutional regime where government is legitimated by the real consent of the majority of governed.2 Free elections are closely linked to the freedom to associate in political parties, since political parties exist for the purpose of winning political power through free and fair elections.
Now, three decades after the overthrow of the communist regime, faced from time to time with deep political problems in the country, with the legacy of an informal society, with strong suspicions of corruption at all levels of state functioning, it is time to conduct an analysis of how the right to vote and the right to be elected has been institutionalized.
This study will address one of the most complex issues, that of financing of political parties and election campaigns, which is extremely challenging in any democratic society, because money is the instrument that affects almost every aspect of policy-making, starting from access to the means of communication, to advertising, selection of candidates, encouragement of voters, their enthusiasm, the development of daily party activities, the emergence into political life of new parties, and so on.
This indispensable link is costing democracy too much. The increase in the costs and expenditures of political parties creates the perception that we are dealing with corruption in its administration, which in turn hurts the credibility of political parties and also brings about an overall reduction of voter interest in their programs, in the importance of politics and in increasing dependence on personal and financial benefits through the voting process. Failure to participate in the political life of the country causes a disfunction of the entire democratic system of a country. Therefore, the regulation of political parties’ financing is essential to guarantee their independence from financial sources, self-improvement of political parties and an opportunity to compete on an equal footing even for new political parties.