Abdulah: PNM, UNC not serious on campaign finance reform

MOVEMENT for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah says the PNM and UNC are not serious about implementing campaign finance reform legislation. He made this statement during a virtual news conference on January 31.

Abdulah said the Representation of the People (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2020 has been before the Parliament in a Joint Select Committee (JSC) for the last four years. He added the majority of the members of this committee are PNM and UNC parliamentarians.

Abdulah said there is no existing legislation which makes political parties accountable to anyone for their expenditure and this bill will change that.

He added neither the government nor the opposition has made any effort to bring this bill to the Parliament's floor, debate and pass it into law.

"They (PNM and UNC) are not serious."

Abdulah said the meetings of the JSC on the bill are private. "We don't know what is being discussed by the JSC." He added the only thing anyone knows is the committee invited comments from stakeholders on the bill.

"What the positions of the parties are. What the specific clauses, requirements and stipulations contained in the bill...we have no idea."

Abdulah did not know if the PNM or UNC made independent submissions to the JSC on their respective positions on campaign finance reform.

He said, "Both of them get millions of dollars as we know and maybe probably don't want to disclose where that money came from."

Abdulah added the People's Roundtable (a group comprising the MSJ, civil society and other entities) will launch a public campaign to encourage the Parliament to debate and pass the bill before this year's election.

Earlier this month, Abdulah said the MSJ will not contest the election and will focus on rebuilding itself.