IFES Senior Political Finance Advisor Magnus Ohman is used to talking money, but at a recent discussion in Georgia, he offered insight into what happens when funds are misused.

On 1 August 2011, IFES held a meeting to discuss the abuse of state resources. The meeting, held in Tbilisi, brought together 17 representatives from political parties, the Central Election Commission (CEC), international organizations and local non-governmental organizations.

The relationship between money and politics has played a significant role in shaping the outcome of elections throughout history. However, one ill-effect of this relationship, as often seen in contemporary politics, is the misuse of funds which undermines political actors and influences the outcome of elections.

Abuse of resources occurs when government representatives strategically use tax payer money to benefit their electoral ambitions. To protect against this and to support Georgia’s democratic footing, IFES is engaged in a four-year initiative, called Increase Trust in the Electoral Process (ITEP), which aims to increase citizens’ awareness of this type of abuse and provide technical assistance in addressing money and politics in Georgia’s Electoral Code.  If local stakeholders ignore this topic, the corrupt practices carried out by individuals or political parties risk tainting the election process and could delegitimize the results.

Ohman developed and presented a report on abuse of state resources which analyzed the concepts and types of regulations to counteract this type of abuse. He also explored challenges and solutions relating to enforcement of such regulations and offered the following recommendations to be considered for the Georgian context:

• Ban certain actions and types of spending during the election period
• Strengthen political finance oversight and establish a clear mandate for monitoring bodies
• Enhance sanctioning regulations and increase monetary penalty thresholds for perpetrators in Georgia’s Electoral Code
• Increase awareness among Georgian citizens of state resource abuse and its repercussions

Ohman’s segment was complemented by a presentation by Transparency International Georgia (TI), which provided examples of abuse and highlighted identifiable trends in government spending of administrative resources prior to past elections.