Portugal’s political parties scrap limits on fundraising

LISBON, Portugal – Portugal’s political parties have backtracked on plans to award themselves a broad tax rebate to help fund their activities following a veto of the idea from the country’s president earlier this year.

However, they are still pushing ahead with a controversial law that scraps limits on the level of private funds they can raise. That, too, had been vetoed by the president in January.

The financing law passed Friday by Portugal’s parliament now goes back to the head of state for approval.

Traditionally in Portugal, parties operate mostly on public funds, with the amount of money they can take from private individuals or corporations indexed and limited in order to avoid anyone having undue influence on government and parliament. That limit is currently around 640,000 euros ($790,000) a year.