CAP PUSHBACK

A cap on campaign financing for aspiring councillors would not have the support of Morant Bay Mayor Hubert Williams, who says it would be a feeble attempt at levelling the playing field.

Williams, who successfully contested the White Horses division for the People’s National Party in the November 2016 local government elections, said the campaign finance legislation, which parliamentary hopefuls are subjected to, does not take into account personal funds that are spent on the campaign trail.

He said there can be no equality while that loophole exists.

“So, putting a spending limit there or a limit on the amount of funds you can get for a campaign, the rich guys would benefit from it because [those] who have their personal funds will just go ahead and spend it or do so under the table,” Williams said while addressing senior journalists at a Gleaner Editors’ Forum last week.

His stance comes two weeks before the local government elections and at the height of the campaign period for local representatives.

Current regulations cap the spending on campaign activities to $15 million per candidate in general elections while the limit for each political party is $630 million. No donor can contribute more than 10 per cent of the maximum allowable spending for a candidate and five per cent of the maximum spending for a political party.

NO LIMIT

There is no corresponding cap for those campaigning in local government polls.

The National Integrity Action and Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal have called for the umbrella to be widened to cover councillors, who represent constituents within municipal corporations.

The civil society groups argue that in the absence of transparency on funding, promises and paybacks fill the vacuum, which then compromises services and public goods that are provided by municipalities.

Still, Williams said that lawmakers, including those on the opposition side, must be practical about any legislation being drafted.

“We know our society. We know how Jamaica run. Jamaica is a country that a lot of transactions are not on the books. If you just going to make law for law’s sake, if the law can’t really create an impact, then it’s no good,” said Williams.

“Most of Jamaica’s transactions [are off the books]. That’s why we don’t know our real GDP because the man out there just do things and it’s not recorded. There’s so much things that is just under the table. I’m saying the society is not honest,” he added.

Not satisfied with Williams’ response, urban planning and public policy expert Professor Carol Archer, who was also a guest at the forum, pointed to Jamaica’s recent rating on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

Jamaica improved one place in Transparency International’s 2022 CPI country rankings, but remains the fourth most corrupt state in the Caribbean.

In the 2022 CPI released by Transparency International last month, Jamaica scored 44 on the CPI with a ranking of 69 out of 180 countries. A score of zero is considered highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

“We’re not doing well and I think [there’s] some place that we need to start. If not at the national election, local government, which is, I would imagine, a little easier,” said Archer.

But Williams doubled down, arguing that the process must first be ironclad for candidates seeking a seat in the House of Representatives.

“Yes, Professor, but if those guys in Parliament, the famous six, if we can’t even get their names, how we reach to this discussion? We have to first sort that out.

“If we’re going to make laws and we can’t hold them accountable, [those] who break these laws, we can’t just create more laws. The ones on the books we have to first deal with them. So until when we can get those six to cooperate, then we shouldn’t bring any more laws,” Williams said.

His reference to six is in relation to a disclosure by the Integrity Commission via its annual report that it is investigating six lawmakers for possible illicit enrichment.

It is not the practice to identify those being investigated until a report is tabled in Parliament. Furthermore, Clause 53(3) of the Integrity Commission Act prevents this.

NEED FOR TRANSPARENCY

Jamaica Labour Party mayoral candidate Markland Edwards, on the counter, said local governance is in need of greater transparency and accountability.

“We don’t want to allow people to be able to spend just about any amount they want to spend. There needs to be a cap and, of course, if you are doing the work, if you are working from day one, you don’t need to spend an extra dollar to win an election. The people are going to vote based on your performance,” said Edwards.

He argued that the time is now to abandon the culture of political handouts, whether buying a beer or putting on a round-robin for votes.

“We need to do the work that we are elected to do, and if we do that, I guarantee, most of the corruption that we are hearing about and all kinds of things will be reduced. We need to let people know that I am not going to buy a beer for you to vote. I am going to work for you, so at the end of the day, you can buy your own beer because I’m providing the environment for investment where you can earn an honest bread,” Edwards said.

He said a reasonable cap for local representatives would be between $5 million and $7 million.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com