Editorial | Transparency in political financing

Based on figures advertised by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) last week, Jamaicans who could afford J$1 million or more donated over J$1.7 billion to the island’s two big political parties and the candidates in the three months before last September’s general election.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and its candidates, which won a third consecutive term in government, received a bit over J$960 million, or 56 per cent of the cash.  The People’s National Party (PNP) got J$754.19 million.
A further breakdown of the numbers indicates that the contributions to the JLP’s central organisation totalled J$701.33 million, while donations directly to its 63 candidates reached J$258.7 million.  The comparative amounts to the PNP were, respectively, J$536.98 million and J$217.2 million.
That these figures are available, and with candidates’ expenditure reports yet to come, suggests a nod to openness in election campaign finance in Jamaica, which this newspaper welcomes. But Jamaicans shouldn’t be carried away by or lulled into a false sense of confidence about transparency. There is a lot that voters don’t know.
The commissioners of the ECJ know who are the individuals, entities or companies who made these contributions. Or they have access to that information. Voters, however, are in the dark. While the law requires that any contribution of J$250,000 or more be filed with the ECJ, there is no provision for the public disclosure of any amount under J$1 million - or for the revelation of the names of donors of any amount.
This, however, is not the full extent of the opacity.
FUND-RAISE YEAR-ROUND
Political parties fund-raise year-round, in and out of election cycles. Their activities, of course, intensify the closer it gets to an election. However, seeking money doesn’t start only when they enter full campaign mode.
Yet, the current campaign finance law requires that they report donations only during the “campaign period”, which is defined in the legislation as “the day immediately following the last day of the period of 54 months from the commencement of the term of office of the government”.  It continues until the day before the election is held.  Simply put, the campaign period begins  six months before a government’s term constitutionally ends, unless the prime minister calls an early election, in which event it begins on the day of the announcement.
Being aware of these timetables, wily party treasurers and fund-raisers could conceivably have donors make the bulk of their reporting threshold contributions over any period – even a day prior to the start of the campaign period – to by-pass reporting the gift to the ECJ.
While registered political parties have to file annual financial reports with the ECJ, inclusive of their sources of income, there is no obligation that the parties make these financial statements public.  Neither is there any requirement that  these financial statements be among the information kept by the ECJ’s registry of political parties to which the public has access.
The law only requires that the open register has information such as the addresses and officers of parties and “such other information as may be prescribed”. 
For a brief period in the 2000s, the PNP published its financial statements, but quickly ended the practice. In campaigning for the party’s presidency in 2020, the current leader, Mark Golding, promised to reinstate financial transparency, but hasn’t followed through on the pledge.
Like the JLP, it has argued that political donors would be uncomfortable with their names being public and that Jamaicans would not be favourably inclined towards the taxpayers’ financing of parties and campaigns, for which an unpromulgated legislation has existed for over a decade.
GRAVER DANGERS
But there are larger and graver dangers in opaque political financing, having to do with the ultimate ownership of the country’s democracy,
Under the law, during elections for the national parliament, a political party is allowed to spend J$630 million. Which, between the JLP and the PNP, the two big parties, that combined would be J$1.26 billion, or just shy of the total of J$1.238 billion the central parties received during last year’s ‘campaign period’ from the J$1 million-plus donors.  Additionally, with 63 parliamentary constituencies and each candidate is allowed to spend J$15 million on their campaign, that’s another J$945 million per party, or J$1.89 billion combined.  
This is potentially a lot of money sloshing around the system with which to purchase access to, and control of political parties, government and governance. In these circumstances, there is the danger of democracy becoming the handmaiden of special interests with the deepest pockets, rather than being at the service of the people.