Wakeup call
Leader of the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Bruce Golding started a political maelstrom in Jamaica a week ago when he waved cheques for more than J$31 million from a Dutch oil trader that had been deposited into accounts controlled by the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.
The money was said to be a gift to the party from Trafigura, a company that has a direct lucrative trading relationship with the Jamaica government. However, the company, which could well be in breach of Dutch laws, said the money was linked to a commercial deal and was no gift.
Simpson Miller has since accepted the resignation of one of her ministers at the heart of the Trafigura scandal and has ordered that the money be returned to Trafigura. Notwithstanding these developments, we can rest assured that the last episodes of that saga are yet to be written.
Our politicians here and in the rest of the Netherlands Antilles would do well to follow closely the still unfolding Trafigura scandal, for it bears instructive lessons for party campaign financing in this neck of the woods.
The cry for reform in party campaign financing was raised a decibel or two about two years ago when the leaders of Democratic Party (DP) of St. Maarten and of National Alliance (NA) both confirmed that their respective parties had received substantial contributions from a well known big construction firm that operated here.
The cry for reform – in essence, the cry for some changes in our political culture at elections time – became even louder before, during and after the parliamentary elections held earlier this year, with the leader of the People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) playing the lead role.
To date, however, the two larger political parties represented in the Island Council and in Parliament seem to have no real appetite for meaningful party financing reform.
This seeming lack of appetite is unfortunate. For, as we prepare for the birth of the country St. Maarten, we would do well to ensure up front that new ground rules for the funding of political parties and their election and other campaigns are reformed, modernised and clearly and unambiguously spelt out.
St. Maarten would do well to ensure that ground rules stipulating reasonable spending limits are in place and are enforceable, to guard against special interests – including drug lords and others involved in other nefarious activities – being able to hijack our much vaunted democracy.
St. Maarten would also do well to ensure that it becomes mandatory for our political parties and their candidates to disclose their sources of funding and to account for the spending of the funds collected.
Hopefully Jamaica’s Trafigura scandal will serve St. Maarten well as a wake up call.
valence of basic trust essential to democratic society.
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