Prime Minister Josephine Alvarez faced numerous questions earlier today in the Federal Parliament after rumours began spreading online and in tabloids that she may have accepted covert campaign donations from Huenyan sources on behalf of the Liberal Party in advance of the Provincial Elections. While the original source of the allegations is uncertain, numerous MPs have begun to ask questions. Alvarez has denied all claims, and called the matter ‘deliberate disinformation’.
In response to a question from Conservative MP Filip Carmen, Alvarez told the Federal Parliament: “There is absolutely no basis for these allegations. I have not, and will not, accept illicit foreign donations for any political campaign. Huenya has not contributed towards the Liberal Party campaign, and the party checks all large donations to ensure they are within campaign finance laws. The source of these rumours is conveniently unknown, which tells us all we need to know. This is clearly a deliberate disinformation campaign aimed at our elections, and I urge my colleagues in parliament to reject such unhelpful rumours.”
Parliament was asked to vote for an investigation into the potential Huenyan donation affair by the leader of the Conservative Party, however the motion fell as the Conservatives failed to convince any members of other parties to vote in favour; and faced a rebellion of three MPs within their own ranks. No proof of the allegations was offered, and when asked in Parliament to name the source for the allegations, Conservative MPs could not give an answer.
Controversial far-right leader of Lauchenoiria First, Paul Doberman, was removed from the parliamentary session after once again accusing Alvarez of being a member of the Aurora Programme. In what came as a surprise to many, however, before his removal Doberman called the rumours ‘nonsense’. He stated that it was ‘highly unlikely’ Huenya would fund Alvarez’s party due to alleged links between ex-Foreign Secretary Sandra Pavía and Empress Calhualyana of Xiomera. Pavía was shuffled out of the Foreign Affairs role due to these alleged links last year.
However, Democracy Dosh, a campaign group to change campaign finance structures, has announced that they will be running their own independent investigation to ‘double- and triple-check’ that there is no legitimacy to the claims.
