EDITORIAL

THE points raised by the Independent Member of Parliament, Dr. Maria Agard, about the need to deal effectively with campaign financing are indeed revolutionary. In fact, this subject of campaign financing was perhaps one of the most telling points she raised while calling for revolutionary approaches to deal with an issue that many would agree needs controlling.

 

Which political party in Barbados will take up the recommendations put forward by the Christ Church West MP and run with them, is something worth following and with interest. It is necessary therefore to wait and see how it is dealt with, assuming the present Government and the Opposition think there is a case for acting and doing so decisively.

 

Her comments on this subject add to a situation where it is thought those offering financing to political parties expect tangible returns for their efforts and at the expense of the large majority of Barbadians.

Dr. Agard spoke during debate on the No Confidence Resolution in the House of Assembly last week.

 

Saying that we need a revolution rather than a resolution, Dr. Agard stated that the time has come for the people of Barbados to suggest that there will be no change of government without a change of governance. Under that umbrella of governance is the whole business of electoral reform to deal with campaign financing in the island.

 

Campaign financing and the implication it has for governance has been on the radaar for a long time. It reared its ugly head in a very significant way during the last couple of general elections. First of all, there were many stories of people selling their votes for money. Second, there was the belief that private individuals giving money to political parties to help them to finance their election campaign, were doing so expecting favourable returns whichever party was victorious at the polls. Rumours went back and forth as to the areas in the country where the financing was most prevalent. 

 

In her contribution to the debate, Dr. Agard said that if it is believed that private donors can purchase political parties and then control what those parties do in government, the perception by the average person is that these things ought not be allowed to continue.

 

“So Sir, we need to be able to fix it,” she said. 

 

Dr. Agard is therefore fully supportive of electoral reform and the regulation of political parties and campaign financing in Barbados. She went further by suggesting the creation of a commission to force all political parties who receive state funding to be registered bodies with fully audited accounts open to public scrutiny whose taxes support the existence of the political parties. She supports a commission that would regulate and control the extent of campaign financing political parties receive from donors, and the publishing and exposure of big named donors of political parties.

 

To this end, the country would need to know who these financiers are and what privileges and contracts they enjoy from the public purse when the party of their choice is elected to Government, the MP reasoned.

It represents a useful approach to dealing with a critical subject, and the country waits to see what transpires.