Roundtable wants campaign finance law passed after election

The People’s Roundtable has called on the political parties contesting the April 28 general election to publicly commit to passing campaign finance legislation should they be elected to Parliament.

In a statement, the group's convenor, Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah, said any parties elected to Parliament must revive the Representation of the People Amendment Bill of 2020, which addresses campaign finance, and have it passed into law before the next local government or general elections.

Abdulah said there have been situations in the current general election campaign which underscores the need for political parties to disclose their financing.

"Questions were asked on the platforms as to where some parties are getting their money for the campaign."

He said, "One party also raised the issue of access to media airtime, including airtime provided for by state-owned TTT and the misuse of public funds for projects such as road paving just before the elections."

Abdulah added it was instructive that neither of the parties asking these questions have made any commitment to pass legislation to regulate political party and campaign finances.

He congratulated certain sections of the media for highlighting "the big spending by the two parliamentary parties (PNM and UNC) and the threat that this poses to a fair and democratic election process."

Abdulah said the roundtable, which comprises the MSJ and several civil society groups, is of the strong view that an enlightened civil society can and should seek to prevent such a distortion of democracy.

To date, only the Patriotic Front (PF) has addressed the issue of campaign finance on its platforms.

PF political leader Mickela Panday has rejected claims from the UNC that the party is being funded by the PNM.

Panday challenged both parties to reveal their financiers.

She said the PF was prepared to expose its financial accounts to public scrutiny.