Eight years, not even a dime

Eight years after the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) was amended to allow for the establishment of a National Election Campaign Fund to allow individuals, entities, and the diaspora to make donations towards the country’s electoral process, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ)-managed pool is yet to receive the first dollar.

The fund intends to facilitate donations to candidates and registered political parties by reimbursing them of a portion of expenses incurred in their campaigns within 180 days of an election. It would especially assist those who do not wish to donate funds to a specific party or candidate to make contributions to a pool, which would then be divided and disbursed.

The fund also aims to promote active participation of citizens in the electoral process.

“A bank account was opened for contributions to be received from permissible donors. The Electoral Office of Jamaica is responsible for the management and administration of the fund. But no contributions have been received from the public and no disbursements made,” the EOJ confirmed to The Sunday Gleaner last week.

The establishment of the fund was one of several changes in the ROPA (Amendment) Act 2016, which also introduced campaign-finance regulations and requirements.

The act said that disbursements would be made to a candidate after dividing the number of votes cast for that person by the total number of votes for all candidates in that constituency. The result would then be multiplied by the total amount from the fund to that constituency for the election. Each constituency would be allocated an equal amount of money from the pool.

Candidates would be excluded from benefiting if the political ombudsman found them in breach of the political code of conduct and if they had not complied with campaign financing reporting regulations.

NO WORD ON STATUS OF FUND

But since the passage of the bill, which was championed by then government minister Phillip Paulwell, there has been no public word on the status of the fund.

“I signed the bill in January 2016, but the [general] elections were in February 2016 and we (the People’s National Party) lost, and I have heard nothing since,” Paulwell told The Sunday Gleaner last week.

“There were some things that we needed to do, but it took some courage, and which were not done. Since then, I have heard nothing about it,” said Paulwell, the member of parliament for Kingston Eastern and Port Royal.

At the time, Paulwell was the minister with responsibility for electoral matters as the leader of government business in the Lower House in the 2012-2016 Simpson Miller administration.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, the current leader of government business in the House, currently has that responsibility.

“There are some persons who don’t want to contribute directly to either of the political parties. They would have been able to, in the National Election Campaign Fund, make contributions which would be administered by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ),” Paulwell recalled, noting that sums from this fund were to be held in the Bank of Jamaica until it is invested, disbursed or otherwise utilised.

The EOJ is an arm of the ECJ.

Calling the amendments “a historic and, indeed, timely development” at the time, Paulwell said the changes were made to begin fundamental reforms and to modernise how electoral campaigns are financed in the island.

He said it was also a recognition that the campaign-financing process needed to be transparent and accountable to endear more individuals to participate in the electoral process.

“The changes have been long in coming, and for the first time, we are about to witness the insulation, I believe, of our democracy from corruption. Elections must reflect the will of the people; political power must not be bought; confidence in the governance of our country must remain sacrosanct; and at all costs, we must protect the processes that give meaning to full participation and development,” Paulwell told Parliament then as the bill was debated.

Eight years later, the meter has not been tipped in favour of greater participation or accountability.

The local government elections held last week saw voter turnout a shade under 30 per cent as apathy remains high.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com