National Assembly approves motion on Campaign Financing

Sep 16, 2011 News

The National Assembly yesterday passed a motion on campaign financing, following the adoption of a report by a Parliamentary Committee which has recommended that all political parties contesting the 2011 national and regional elections report on their “Election Expenses” in accordance with the existing laws.
On April 28, 2011, the National Assembly passed a resolution to set up a Special Select Committee to examine the existing laws and regulations regarding political parties’ electoral expenses, examine such legislation in other countries, and report their findings to the National Assembly.
Presidential Advisors Odinga Lumumba and Gail Teixeira spoke about the Committees work in their push to have the report adopted. The Committee did not benefit from the opposition Parliamentarians on the committee who have been staying away from any business of the Parliament since August 10. The Parliament should have gone into recess on August 10 for two months, but the recess was suspended by the government to allow for its business to be conducted.
The report of the Special Select Committee on Campaign Financing was tabled in the National Assembly two weeks ago. The motion was taken to the House by Alliance for Change Parliamentarian Sheila Holder.
The Committee consisted of six Parliamentarians from the government side of the house; three Parliamentarians from the main opposition PNCR, and one member from the smaller opposition party, the AFC.
According to the report, at the fifth meeting of the Committee, held on August 16, all the opposition members were absent. The report said only Sheila Holder asked to be excused and John Austin of the PNCR-1G later verbally said that his party members would not be attending any meetings of the Committee during the Parliamentary recess period.
Despite this, the government Parliamentarians continued to meet at the committee level and presented their report.
The Committee agreed that the issue of political parties campaign financing was a very important one that Guyana should address as it continues to strengthen its Parliamentary democracy.
The committee made no specific recommendations “due to the constraints” it faced, but it outlined some principles.
The Committee concluded that the constitutional and legislative framework should be strong enough to ensure that political parties are not subjected to undue influence from stakeholders based on their financial or kind contributions.
They added that political parties should protect their independence and not become subjected to any particular interests based on financial or other contributions;
According to the Committee, the accountability of political parties as it relates to reporting campaign financing must be in compliance with the laws.
The Committee also concluded that any formula designed to address the issue of political parties campaign financing, whilst taking into account the level of political development in the country and the constitutional framework, should allow for an affirmative action policy to ensure increased political participation and representation of women, youth, hinterland communities, disabled people, rather than being a disincentive to their increased participation as candidates in national, regional or local elections.
According to the resolution passed in the National Assembly, Article 162 (1) (b) of the constitution directs the Guyana Elections Commission to issue such instructions and take such action as appears to be expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness and compliance with the provisions of the constitution on the part of persons performing duties connected with or relating to campaign financing.
The resolution pointed out Guyana’s commitment to several international instruments and mandates for addressing the issue of political party campaign financing.
Among these was the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad in April 2009, where Caribbean leaders reaffirmed their commitment to fostering credibility and public trust in democratic institutions, in particular, the legitimacy of the electoral processes.

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National Assembly approves motion on Campaign Financing

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