In keeping with a promise made at the start of its campaign, The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) has disclosed its financing and expenditure for the upcoming general and regional elections, while calling on other parties to do the same in the interest of public accountability.
TCI last Tuesday released a breakdown of the just over $2.5 million in donations it managed to raise from its inception up to the end of January as well as its just over $2 million in expenditure for the same period.
“This is not a requirement by law but we believe it is a critical measure towards inspiring public confidence in the integrity of political players,” TCI Executive and Founding Member Shazaam Ally said in a statement, explaining the rationale behind the party’s disclosure.
Ally, in the statement, reminded that when the party was launched, one of its first commitments was to transparency, particularly in the area of campaign financing, both prior to and after the polls.
He noted that when political parties are not required to disclose where their money comes from to run their campaigns, the public does not have a record of the companies and individuals who influence their decision-making while holding elected office. “This establishes the fertile ground for the exact sort of corruption that has stretched across governments in this country. The introduction of oil money into developing countries, particularly those like Guyana with weak institutions, overwhelmingly results in increased corruption and shady deals,” he argued.
Against this background, he said any political entity that is to be taken seriously on promises to transform this country for the betterment of all citizens has to begin with tangible commitments to campaign finance reform, ending in reformed legislation and supporting structures but beginning with voluntary disclosures. He added that this has been the recommendation of the Carter Center, Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc, and CARICOM, and falls under the country’s obligations towards fighting corruption as a signatory to the United Nations Conven-tion against Corruption.
In its final report on Guyana’s May 11th, 2015 elections, the Carter Center had recommended the overhauling and modernisation of campaign finance laws as it found that the country’s legal framework is particularly weak and contributes to inequalities between political parties. The legal framework puts in place ceilings for election expenditures and a simple requirement that declarations of electoral expenses must be submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) after the elections.
That report noted that in the 2015 elections, political parties and candidates were bound by spending limits laid down in the 1964 Representation of the People Act. The law limits spending by a candidate to GY$25,000 and by parties to an additional GY$50,000 per candidate. The law, however, has been traditionally ignored.
According to the listing of donations that was released, TCI received a total of $2,509,850 from 27 donors, ranging from an online contribution of $2,100 to a total donation of $462,000 received from one single US-based supporter.
Ally said the party had committed to providing the option of anonymity in the public disclosure of the identity of donors, even as it retained strict records of each donor, except for any donor committing above $10,000 US dollars or the Guyana dollar equivalent. It said no donor has given more than the amount the party set, it has exercised the option of providing the donor number and the amount(s) given.
In providing a breakdown of its expenditure, which totalled $2,014,178, the party’s release shows that for October its primary expenses ($268,708) went to its launch, with the remainder covering T-shirts. It also lists spending for December for outreaches, reconnaissance and final candidate and nominator drives in time for nomination day as well as for a US outreach that included visits to the Carter Center headquarters as well as small outreach events in Atlanta and New York. It noted that there was no expenditure for Novem-ber since the party used that month primarily for strategic planning.
TCI, which was launched last October, is one of the nine parties contesting the March 2nd general and regional elections.
Saying that no other party has shown any tangible commitment towards campaign finance transparency or reform, Ally on behalf of TCI invited all other parties to do the same in the interest of rebuilding a sense of public accountability. “We further challenge all other party lists to adhere to the law and submit their records of expenditure within 35 days after elections,” he added
Ally emphasised that releasing campaign finance information is the right thing to do in the interest of public accountability, whether or not it is required by law. He further added that the primary purpose of the formation of TCI was to encourage participatory citizenship. “While political campaigns are expensive, we want to demonstrate that with commitment, strategy and accountability, running a campaign in order to participate in the democratic process is not prohibitively expensive,” he said, while noting that TCI estimates that the average single campaign rally entertainment expenditure alone is double its total funds raised as of January, and the expenditure on party flags for just one major party will be dozens of times its expenditure for the entire election. “Still, not only have we made nomination day but we continue to run a solid ground campaign of meeting people, listening to their concerns and sharing our plans. We believe that with greater accountability comes increased efficiency as well as greater participation, and this is fundamental to the democratic process,” he added.
Asked on Friday about the incumbent APNU+AFC coalition’s spending on its elections campaign, Co-Chair of the campaign Joseph Harmon said he could not give a figure but stressed that “elections campaigning is very expensive.”
He further noted that a decision on the release of campaign financing information would be made at the end of the campaign. “All of our campaign managers are required to prepare a statement and I suppose at the appropriate time, we will make that call,” Harmon said.
On its website, the Liberty and Justice Party, proclaiming that it is sustained by contributions from supporters, has disclosed that it raised $2,500,000 in campaign contributions so far.
