EDITORIAL - MP Pryce is on to something

Raymond Pryce, the governing People's National Party member of parliament (MP) for North East St Elizabeth, has placed on the table a legitimate issue worthy of rational discussion, rather than, as some have been guilty of, rejection with hubris.

That approach implies, it seems to us, that transparency and accountability are one-way, single-traffic streets to be travelled solely by governments or their agencies.

The issue at hand is Mr Pryce's tabling in the House of Representatives on Tuesday of a private member's resolution urging the legislature to pass laws to regulate lobby groups and civil-society groups, the latter of which, sometimes, are referred to as non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Mr Pryce's resolution acknowledges that the continued vibrancy of Jamaica's democracy "depends on an active role for civil society".

But he also makes the point that democracies can be compromised - and sometimes, in fact, are - by lobbies acting on behalf of unknown funders, with agendas which are often undeclared.

Indeed, that is an inference often made about Jamaica's political parties and how they are funded. Special interests, having bankrolled its operations, the argument goes, call in the chits when a party wins the government and controls state power. There are concerns, too, of narco-traffickers or other types of criminals, via this route, having influence over - if not gaining control of - the Jamaican State.

This is part of the context for the consensus that emerged on the proposal for the registration of political parties, and for the Electoral Commission to maintain a registry of contributions to them, beyond benchmark amounts. This newspaper believes that any such register should be open.

Until Mr Pryce's intervention, however, there had been no similar public debate on the desirability to hold civil-society groups and lobbyists - although the latter group, in the sense understood in other jurisdictions, is not a phenomenon in Jamaica - accountable.

BRITAIN MAKES MOVE

But demanding transparency of NGOs and lobbyists is increasingly the case in other countries. Two years ago, for instance, Britain consolidated the various laws covering the operation of NGOs into a new Charities Act that regulates organisations that seek the "advancement of human rights, conflict resolution, or reconciliation, or the promotion of religious or racial harmony, or equality or diversity".

Charities have to "keep such books or accounts and such records" as directed by the Treasury, and their audited accounts have to be reviewed by the government's auditor general. They are then deposited with the regulator, the Charities Commission, which sends them to Parliament.

Britain has just published draft legislation for a statutory lobbyist register, which critics, such as the Alliance for Transparency in Lobbying, say doesn't go far enough.

In America, lobbyists have to register and report their activities. Civil-society groups that want tax-exempt status have to file pertinent information with the Internal Revenue Service. Canada is developing specific legislation for not-for-profit organisations, and the European Union is, after two years, into a review of its Transparency Register that tracks the operation of lobbyists.

There are internal regulatory efforts by some Jamaican NGOs. That is not the same as independent oversight. We care not about Raymond Pryce's motive, but the logic of his proposal. And it has merit.

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