Tweet
House to get campaign finance reform report Sept
ALICIA DUNKLEY, Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Saturday, May 24, 2008
MILLER. report drafted following a series of high-level consultations
The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) is to present a report on political party financing to Parliament this September, paving the way for legislation to rid the system of corruption, encourage disclosure and impose sanctions where necessary.
Chairman of the ECJ, Professor Errol Miller, told a workshop for media managers and journalists in Kingston Thursday that the report had been drafted following a series of high-level consultations, the contents of which are to be brought to Jamaicans through a number of town meetings starting next month.
"We will listen to everybody. By September this report will be presented to Parliament as the report on campaign financing," Miller said.
The ECJ, which is the parliamentary body with oversight responsibility for the fair conduct of elections, has been inundated with calls to forward recommendations for the implementation of campaign financing reform, especially since the questionable donation of $31 million to the former ruling People's National Party (PNP) by Dutch oil trading firm Trafigura Beheer in 2006.
Since then, there have been increased calls for public disclosure of campaign donations, backed up by criminal penalties for political parties that fail to comply. Although candidates are obligated to declare election expenses there is no legislation for campaign financing and, as such, no prerequisite for political parties to have their accounts inspected or disclose their funding sources.
On Thursday, Miller said the report would serve to form the basis for a legal framework spurring parties to improve their accountability to their own members, especially in financial areas, and encouraging them to disclose and report to the ECJ with respect to funding and tighten the loopholes where existing rules on campaign financing are concerned.
"With this law, we will be putting that if a person doesn't comply with the financial arrangements you get denied and you delist a political party that does not do certain things," Professor Miller explained.
He, however, pointed out that while several sanctions are being looked at, as well as the use of the prosecutorial process in the most grievous circumstances, prosecution would not be the first option.
"We have not found it productive to prosecute, but what we have done is to penalise the people within the system, and that has been very successful," he said.
"You do not have to criminalise everything, you can punish without making the person a criminal; but there are some things to criminalise," he added.
Miller said it was hoped that the reforms would be introduced in legislation before the next set of elections, which become due in 2010. As to whether the legislation might again be sidelined to facilitate a general election, given the current uncertain political climate, he maintained that he does not know of plans for a snap election.
"I can't tell people more than I know," said Miller.
In the meantime, he said political parties will be required to keep records of all their contributions, adding that an effort will be made to plug the loopholes which allow persons to dodge revealing the full amounts they expend on campaigning activities.
"These records need to be available for an audit at any time, and contributions over a certain amount will have to be reported," he added.
Turning to the issue of disclosure of funding sources, Miller said the "fear of reprisal against people who make contributions to the party of their preference", was something that the commission would have to "treat carefully".
He, however, pointed out that the recommendations in the report at present were not written in stone and represented what has been "put on the table for discussion".
President of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an election assistance organisation, Dr James Vermillion, who was on the panel, said he believed that disclosure was of critical importance to the process and should be one of the easiest aspects of campaign finance.
An October 2006 Stone Poll showed that 41.5 per cent of respondents said they would support laws to allow political campaigns being paid for from public funds placed in a common facility set aside for use by both major political parties.
The forum, which was themed: 'Informed Media Covering National Integrity and Political Finance Issues', was also used to encourage journalists to display moral courage and fairness in the reporting process.
Talk Back
No comments have been posted
Post your comments
ALICIA DUNKLEY, Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Saturday, May 24, 2008
MILLER. report drafted following a series of high-level consultations
The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) is to present a report on political party financing to Parliament this September, paving the way for legislation to rid the system of corruption, encourage disclosure and impose sanctions where necessary.
Chairman of the ECJ, Professor Errol Miller, told a workshop for media managers and journalists in Kingston Thursday that the report had been drafted following a series of high-level consultations, the contents of which are to be brought to Jamaicans through a number of town meetings starting next month.
"We will listen to everybody. By September this report will be presented to Parliament as the report on campaign financing," Miller said.
The ECJ, which is the parliamentary body with oversight responsibility for the fair conduct of elections, has been inundated with calls to forward recommendations for the implementation of campaign financing reform, especially since the questionable donation of $31 million to the former ruling People's National Party (PNP) by Dutch oil trading firm Trafigura Beheer in 2006.
Since then, there have been increased calls for public disclosure of campaign donations, backed up by criminal penalties for political parties that fail to comply. Although candidates are obligated to declare election expenses there is no legislation for campaign financing and, as such, no prerequisite for political parties to have their accounts inspected or disclose their funding sources.
On Thursday, Miller said the report would serve to form the basis for a legal framework spurring parties to improve their accountability to their own members, especially in financial areas, and encouraging them to disclose and report to the ECJ with respect to funding and tighten the loopholes where existing rules on campaign financing are concerned.
"With this law, we will be putting that if a person doesn't comply with the financial arrangements you get denied and you delist a political party that does not do certain things," Professor Miller explained.
He, however, pointed out that while several sanctions are being looked at, as well as the use of the prosecutorial process in the most grievous circumstances, prosecution would not be the first option.
"We have not found it productive to prosecute, but what we have done is to penalise the people within the system, and that has been very successful," he said.
"You do not have to criminalise everything, you can punish without making the person a criminal; but there are some things to criminalise," he added.
Miller said it was hoped that the reforms would be introduced in legislation before the next set of elections, which become due in 2010. As to whether the legislation might again be sidelined to facilitate a general election, given the current uncertain political climate, he maintained that he does not know of plans for a snap election.
"I can't tell people more than I know," said Miller.
In the meantime, he said political parties will be required to keep records of all their contributions, adding that an effort will be made to plug the loopholes which allow persons to dodge revealing the full amounts they expend on campaigning activities.
"These records need to be available for an audit at any time, and contributions over a certain amount will have to be reported," he added.
Turning to the issue of disclosure of funding sources, Miller said the "fear of reprisal against people who make contributions to the party of their preference", was something that the commission would have to "treat carefully".
He, however, pointed out that the recommendations in the report at present were not written in stone and represented what has been "put on the table for discussion".
President of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an election assistance organisation, Dr James Vermillion, who was on the panel, said he believed that disclosure was of critical importance to the process and should be one of the easiest aspects of campaign finance.
An October 2006 Stone Poll showed that 41.5 per cent of respondents said they would support laws to allow political campaigns being paid for from public funds placed in a common facility set aside for use by both major political parties.
The forum, which was themed: 'Informed Media Covering National Integrity and Political Finance Issues', was also used to encourage journalists to display moral courage and fairness in the reporting process.
Talk Back
No comments have been posted
Post your comments
