Peter Espeut | Hold the prime minister to his word

I wrote last week’s column before the results of the election were known, but with all the professional opinion polls pointing to a massive win by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), the fact that they are returning to government was expected; the surprise was the extent of the JLP win: a virtual wipeout of the People’s National Party (PNP).

It was clear from the frequency of political advertisements broadcast on radio and television that the JLP had much more money to spend than the PNP. We say that elections reflect the will of the people, but in a real way, elections reflect the collective will of political donors. It takes a huge war chest to run a general election, not just to buy media time, but also to outfit many tens of thousands of supporters with shirts, caps, and armbands of the appropriate colour, and to transport them to the various political arenas for parading.

It used to be that party supporters expected only spiritual lubrication and a plate of food in return for their support; there is abundant anecdote, but little hard evidence that nowadays, cash is also involved, ranging from J$5,000 to J$25,000. Vote buying is, of course, illegal, and is political corruption; but so was the stuffing of ballot boxes, which was common just a few years ago. Strategies have to be found to put a stop to the buying of elections, for if it becomes entrenched, then we really don’t have a democracy. Both sides are alleged to be involved, limited only by the amount of money they have.

NOT WORTHY OF CELEBRATION

An election victory tainted by vote buying or ‘abstention buying’ is nothing to be proud of, and certainly is not worthy of celebration. The private sector which funds the political parties must be concerned with what their donations are being used for, and if they do not insist that, then they can be said to be just as guilty of corruption.

According to the recently enacted campaign finance legislation, only donations received during the “campaign period” are required to be reported, which I am sure the politicians are very happy about. The “campaign period” begins on the day the election is announced, and ends 24-hours before the polls open on election day. The prime minister knows when he is going to announce the election, and so he can make sure that he fills his war chest in advance of that day; he will not have to report any of those donations. The Opposition will do a lot of its fundraising after the election is called, and will have to report every cent of it.

Of course, both sides can run their election campaigns on credit, and raise the money to pay their debts after election day. None of this money will have to be declared.

The present campaign finance legislation is fundamentally flawed, and (I do not think it is unreasonable to believe intentionally) leaves the system open to secret money, and maybe shady money, finding its way into campaign funding.

COMMITMENT TO ELIMINATE CORRUPTION

In his acceptance speech – and at his swearing-in – Prime Minister Holness showed an appreciation for the extent to which thousands of Jamaicans are fed up with political corruption, and he gave what has become the customary (maybe obligatory) commitment to reduce or eliminate corruption on his watch. Can he be taken seriously?

Both, this newspaper and other commentators, have called on him not to appoint tainted persons as ministers in his Cabinet, and yet one of the first persons he has named is embroiled in a scandal, which has not yet been responded to or been resolved.

We know that many persons enter politics for what they can get, and it will be a Herculean task to prevent corrupt people from raiding the public Treasury. Now is the time when all those newly elected should declare their assets publicly, so that as the years go by, we will be able to see if their assets rise faster than their legal income.

The prime minister says he wants to be intolerant of corruption; let us hold him to his word.

Peter Espeut is an environmentalist and development scientist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.