ECJ to sign off on party-funding report
Published:Friday | June 18, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter
A REPORT containing comprehensive recommendations on the registration and financing of political parties is expected to be signed by members of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) on July 7, after which it will be submitted to Parliament for debate.
Chairman of the ECJ, Professor Errol Miller, said the commission of Parliament had adopted a two-stage approach in relation to the registration and funding of political parties as well as campaign financing.
"Our legal committee is looking on the final touches of the report next week and the expectation is that we are going to sign the report at the ECJ's first meeting for that month (July)," he told The Gleaner yesterday.
He explained that new legislation was required to facilitate the registration and financing of political parties. After that was established, Miller pointed out that the existing law would be amended to introduce campaign financing.
"At the moment, campaign financing only recognises candidates, it does not recognise political parties and a person is only a candidate from nomination day to election day. This restricts severely how you can monitor spending by candidates," the ECJ head asserted.
The professor said that once the first report was signed and sent to Parliament, a special committee of the ECJ would embark on the issue of campaign financing by engaging in consultations with stakeholders.
He indicated that by the end of the year, a report on campaign financing should be ready for submission to Parliament.
Wide scope of research
Commenting on how the ECJ developed its recommendations, Miller said the commission examined legislation in various jurisdictions and devised proposals that were appropriate for the Jamaican situation. He said consultations were held islandwide with Jamaicans in town meetings and seminars.
He said the commission wanted to complete its agenda before the "Bunsen heat of competitive politics is upon us again".
Analysts, politicians and Jamaicans in general have been debating the registration of political parties and campaign financing for the last four years.
However, sharp differences between the two main political parties had stymied progress, particularly on the issue of campaign financing.