ASUNCION, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Paraguay's electoral authority and anti-money laundering authorities signed an agreement to control the financing of political parties on Tuesday, almost two months before presidential and legislative elections.
Jaime Bestard, president of Superior Electoral Justice Court, which signed the deal with the Secretariat of Prevention of Money Laundering and Financial Intelligence Unit (SEPRELAD), said there is a similar agreement to regulate political funding with the National Development Bank to ensure that political groups have only one bank account.
"This is a long journey ... The political forces must understand this control is crucial and unavoidable," the judge added.
Telling political parties to have only one bank account allows monitoring in case doubts arise about some financial transactions,Oscar Boidanich, minister for SEPRELAD, said. "This will help greatly to allow us to follow up."
The political financing law was approved last year. Political parties must present annual reports of their finances to continue receiving state support.
The law also created the national system of political financing, which standardizes and makes it transparent how political parties follow these guidelines.
