Financing of political parties needs regulating, TI chair tells Pacific islanders [1]
Monday, February 11, 2008 - 19:41. Updated on Wednesday, July 22, 2015 - 14:04.
By Pesi Fonua
People put their trust in those they have elected into government to manage their money and to provide public services, and therefore government must have integrity, transparency and accountability, said Madam Huguette Labelle, the Transparency International global chairperson, at the University of the South Pacific campus, Suva, on February 4.
The first Transparency International Chairperson to visit the Pacific islands, she was speaking on the theme "Transparency and Accountability in Political Party Financing", on the occasion of the 5th Annual Siwatibau Memorial Lecture.
Huguette stressed that in order to get candidates and political parties under the transparency banner, "first you need a law and a regulatory frame-work on financing of political parties, then candidates and political parties must declare publicly all the money they have received and the names of the donors, including contributions in-kind and from third parties. The owner of a media may not give you money but a free media time.
"If the donation is to uplift the party, this information should be made known to the public and all other political parties, prior to the election and not six months after the election."
Vital role
Huguette said that under democracy, "at the end of the day, the people make the decisions, but they need to know the basis, and the role of the civil society is to inform the people about the electoral system.
"An independent and responsible media has a vital role to play in informing the public," Huguette said, adding that a media that is campaigning for a party or a candidate should declare its political interest.
"We are talking tonight about the foundation of our society, about the trust that the society has in the people they elect to manage and run our government.
"Corruption deprives business people of a level playing field, and discourages people from investing.
"At the end of the day we should be able to put our trust in the people we elected."
Politicians corrupted
Huguette gave a number of examples of how when there is no law and a regulatory framework in place political parties and politicians may be corrupted before they gain power and form a government.
She said, for example, the intent of a land developer who contributes, say a million to the campaign of a candidate. The candidate wins the election but on the very next day, the land developer visits the politician and expresses how he wants to lease a certain low-lying area with mangroves. The mangroves have been preserved to protect the area from tsunami and rising sea levels, but now the politician has to think about rezoning the area to accommodate the wishes of his millionaire financier.
Huguette also told of corrupt practices in Kenya. She that the current government in Kenya came into power under the banner of cleaning-up the corruption of the previous government of Mr Moi. But once in power it got involved in a number of high-flying corruption schemes. She said that companies were registered in the UK, which then bid for contracts to set up a multi million IT project in Kenya. "The company won the contract, for say $5 million pounds, but then sub-contract it to another company for say $2 million, then the remaining $3 million is used to finance the ruling party in Kenya."
Donations to political parties
Huguette said that in the USA a company or an individual may donate an unlimited amount of money to a candidate or a party, because, "all contributions are made public, whether it is $1,000 or one million.
"But I think we have to be cautious. If the contribution is so big, how bonded are you to the person who gave you the money. We have to prevent the buying of votes.
"In Canada business and unions cannot donate money to political parties at election time, but there is an allocation from government to the parties, depending on the number of votes that a party got in the previous election.
"Only an individual may make financial contribution and it is not more than $1,000. It is probably one of the best system."
Buying votes
While on the topic of the buying of votes Huguette said that it is common practice in Canada that the party in power spends a lot on infrastructure building prior to an election. "But some of this construction, because they are only for show, end up an utter waste of time and money. In Canada after an election there are many roads and suspended bridges, which are leading no where. Again it is the people's money that is spent to buy their votes.
"Under parliament's approval parliamentarians are also given allocations to spend in one's constituency. The use of tax money by MPs to buy votes," she said.
Huguette Labelle was in Suva for two and a half days, and on this trip she also visited Australia and New Zealand.