With the presence of influential oil companies…Guyana urgently needs updated laws to govern campaign financing

Sep 04, 2017 News

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By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell

The paucity of anti-corruption laws in Guyana, especially the lack of those to address election campaign financing, is being lamented by many. Those who bemoan the “hazardous” situation include attorneys-at-law, Nigel Hughes and Christopher Ram as well as political commentator, Frederick Kissoon.
The consensus among the three is the need to address the lack of updated laws to govern election campaign financing is long overdue. However, Hughes and Kissoon think that Guyana is even more vulnerable to the ills that come along with unregulated campaign financing now that major oil companies are operating in Guyana.
While Hughes seems to have a dash of hope that campaign financing may become regulated, Ram and Kissoon believe that Guyana does not stand a chance. The view held by Kissoon is that there is no genuine political will to make such a major and much needed change.
Hughes told Kaieteur News that the need for laws to govern campaign financing was referenced in the report of the Special Committee on Constitutional Reform. This report has been with Cabinet for over a year.
Hughes said that the coming of the oil industry has perhaps, highlighted the need for an updated Campaign Financing Legislation.
The attorney said that there has been significant disquiet about more insidious forms of influence in Guyana’s politics for some considerable time, prior to the discovery of oil in commercially viable quantities. He noted, however, that campaign financing seemed to have escaped public scrutiny.
“Campaign financing, along with other urgent constitutional reform measures, should be a priority for all of us as Guyanese; not just for politicians.
“In an electoral system in which the head of a party’s list appoints the members of Parliament and where post electoral alliances are prohibited, the opportunities for abuse of campaign financing are obvious and relatively simple.”
Hughes noted the fact that election campaigns in Guyana are not expensive by international standards.
He said that the money needed to sponsor an entire elections campaign is nothing to major oil companies. Hughes said that one company can easily sponsor a party’s campaign.
According to the attorney, the face of election campaigns in Guyana can change dramatically. Hughes said that the population should not be surprised by concerts that can be headlined by international artistes, which these companies have the capacity to sponsor.
Hughes admitted, “I am keenly aware that campaign finance legislation is unlikely to eliminate the real mischief it is intended to address. However, the absence of any updated legal framework, which obliges those who sit in Parliament to disclose to the public, those who may have sought to favorably influence their electoral prospects by significant financial contributions, leaves all of us most vulnerable and blind to agendas which may not always be in our best interest.”
NO POLITICAL WILL

Ram and Kissoon believe that there is no political will to kill the monster that lives off of unregulated campaign financing.
Ram told Kaieteur News yesterday that political parties in Guyana are filled with “a bunch of hypocrites.” He said that local politicians are not serious about addressing campaign financing “and it is the root of corruption. I can tell you campaign financing is indeed a main cause of corruption in Guyana.”
“If any of them (politicians) are serious about addressing corruption, they will deal with campaign financing laws and political party financing laws, but it is a whole set of double standards and hypocrisy we are experiencing with our political parties.”
Unlike Hughes and Kissoon, who expressed worry about oil companies, Ram said that they are not the main culprits.
He said that the international companies may be subject to home country regulations that promote disclosures. He said that English companies have the bribery Act to contend with.
However, Ram noted that United States President Donald Trump seems to want to relax the regulations of disclosure, “but I am not sure what the position is with the Americans.”
“But I think it is bad with our local people. We must not exonerate them. Who you think finances the political parties and elections?” Ram said that after elections, it becomes, “payback time.”
Ram told this newspaper that Guyana does not seem capable of setting and implementing laws to govern campaign financing before next elections simply because there is a severe lack of political will.
Kissoon does not anticipate change either.
He said that the needed laws are being held hostage by those who love the power they possess.
“It is like with Constitutional reform; when a party is in opposition, it is exigent to change the Constitution to reflect broader freedom and liberties. When that party gets into government, it finds that the Constitution aids its longevity; so Constitutional change goes on the back burner.”
Kissoon said that Guyanese are going to see the identical scenario playing out with campaign financing regulation.

Kissoon noted that when in opposition, the APNU and the AFC, particularly the AFC, zeroed in on the need for campaign finance legislation. “This became more urgent given the huge spending of the PPP in the 2011 elections.”
Kissoon said he suspects that with the changing fortunes of the AFC and the APNU, that are now in power and are enjoying their relationship with big businesses, particularly with oil giant ExxonMobil, campaign finance laws will “become collateral damage in the country where nothing ever changes for the better.”
In 2011, the AFC had taken a Motion to the National Assembly which sought to compel the then PPP government to update crucial campaign financing laws. That Motion was lost in a special select committee. Since then, neither the AFC nor the APNU has brought a similar Motion to the House to address this issue.

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