Hypocritical pots and self-unaware kettles

Fair or not, political contests at some level are competitions around funding. Parties and their candidates require resources to go out and reach the electorate with their messaging, before they can actually compete on the content of their manifestos and pledges.

In the absence of political party funding legislation under which the state would undertake to sponsor political groupings, political parties are forced to go cap in hand to donors whose interests in providing sponsorship are rarely altruistic or aligned to noble democratic values.