PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar says the ruling party has been careful to avoid abuse of state resources in its election campaigns over the years and has been calling for some form of oversight of campaign finances since its days in opposition.
At news briefing last week, Ramotar said the abuse of state funds by PNC governments at election periods was at the root of their calls and his party has tried to avoid the same behaviour.
“We haven’t been using the stateapparatus in our elections campaign. Probably the most that would happen is that government ministers who speak at public meetings arrive at meetings in their vehicles that are assigned to them as ministers of the government,” Ramotar stated.
However, he is urging caution on the way forward.
“My own personal view on this is that we have to be careful in crafting the policies in that regard. We have to be careful because we see in places like the United States where they have some of these things in place a lot of breaches take place, they find all kinds of loopholes to overcome these laws and so on,” the party leader said.
The PPP/Civic government has been in power since 1992 and during that time there has been no move to reform the relevant statutes with the last amendments to the Representation of the People Act occurring in 1990.
Opposition parliamentarians have been calling for campaign financing reforms and the introduction of laws to monitor an incumbent government’s utilisation of public funds during election periods. However, with the exception of the AFC’s Sheila Holder, many of them believe it is an issue that should be dealt with after the 2011 polls.
According to her, campaign financing has a direct impact on free and fair elections and consequences for governing parties who received funds from less than reputable sources. “If you get dirty money you almost have an obligation to fulfil their interest and this has a direct impact on governance and elected democracy,” she declared.
She called for the introduction of public financing of the campaigning parties as a way around the problem and to address the disparity in spending. “When parties are funded by the Treasury it creates a greater chance of levelling the playing field in a fledgling democracy like ours. It also ensures that no party will have to kowtow to special interests in our society.”
Holder echoed the call for regulation of the incumbent’s spending stating that “any society that is serious about transparency ought to be concerned about this.”
She has since laid a motion in Parliament calling for the review of the relevant law which she says is “archaic and unrealistic,” with the intention of amending or crafting new legislation.
