Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 22, 2014 News
Opposition Leader David Granger says that while his party does not have a problem with complying with the “Campaign Financing” legislation it would not be submitting any documents in isolation.
Granger’s comment comes on the heels of Guyana Elections Commissioner Charles Corbin, saying that political parties across the board seem not to have a general disposition towards supporting the legislation.
Granger told Kaieteur News yesterday that his party is concerned about the issue, since they do not want dirty money infiltrating their campaign. He said that measures should be put in place to ensure this is done.
The Opposition Leader said that he has been working towards greater accountability within his party. Granger said that since the 2011 Elections Campaign, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has never asked for them to hand over anything pertaining to campaign financing. Further, he stated that while the party would not have a problem submitting documents they would not be doing it in isolation. “All political parties have to come on board,” Granger emphasised.
Corbin who had attended a two-day workshop on Local Government Elections recently hosted by the Canadian High Commission and the Guyana Press Association stated that they have had several discussions with the Organization of American States (OAS) within the region on the issue.
He told Kaieteur News that from the point of view of GECOM it would be useful if they could be able to pursue and set up the framework, thus allowing them to monitor that aspect.
“The feedback we get from those discussions in the region gives us the indication that the legislators (in Guyana) at the moment seem not to have a general disposition towards supporting legislation that would place limits around contributions.”
In 2009, the OAS had announced that it had started work on comprehensive political party and campaign finance reform in the region towards instituting a key recommendation of its electoral observation missions.
It was noted that the main purpose of the project initiative was to contribute to increased transparency, to strengthen the integrity of political party and electoral finance in the Caribbean and to establish sustainable mechanisms for the regulation of political party and campaign financing in the region.
The OAS had stated that it intended to make the working paper public and that the paper would call for specific requirements for political party registration, increased disclosure and strengthened enforcement.
The paper and the model legislation will be presented and discussed in a series of meetings throughout the Caribbean scheduled during this year, the OAS added. However Corbin said that at an OAS conference last year, the general disposition was not there for support of the legislation.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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