Abe Dabdoub, Contributor
Dabdoub and Golding
On October 10, 2006, I opened the debate on the bill entitled 'The Registration and Funding of Political Parties Act', which was laid by me in the House of Representatives in early May, 2006, and approved by Cabinet before July, 2006. The second speaker was the Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding, who attempted to derail the bill by threatening that the Opposition would not participate in any Joint Select Committee established to consider the provisions of the bill.
Mr. Goldingstated, and I quote from the Hansard transcript, "Some two/three years ago, the former Prime Minister and the former Leader of the Opposition had discussions on the matter and it was agreed between them that the matter really ought to be put within the scope of work of the Electoral Advisory Committee."
I consulted with the former Leader of the Opposition, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga, last week, who again said he has never had discussions with the former Prime Minister, the Most Honourable P.J. Patterson, on the matter of the registration and funding of political parties, and that they had no agreement.
Mr. Golding has now developed a new take on the matter, as reported in The Gleaner of January 29, 2007, and I quote: "Why not allow the Electoral Commission the opportunity to do its job? This was agreed on as a matter of principle by Michael Manley and Edward Seaga many years ago, so I don't know what Mr. Dabdoub is trying to come with now." I have also checked this with Mr. Seaga, who told me that he and Michael Manley had no such agreement allowing the Electoral Advisory Committee to deal with matters concerning the registration and funding of political parties and/or campaign financing.
Responsible for advising
No such agreement, either with the Most Honourable Michael Manley or the Most Honourable P.J. Patterson, would have been proper, as there was no provision in the Representation of the People (Interim Electoral Reform) Act, which established the Electoral Advisory Committee, making this one of the functions of the Committee. Section 5 of the act expressly provided that the committee shall be responsible for advising the director on the performance of his duties under the Representation of the People Act. There was no provision that gives the committee the function of advising on legislation for the registration and funding of political parties.
The recent Electoral Commission (Interim) Act, which provides for a broader scope of functions than had the Electoral AdvisoryCommittee, also gives the Electoral Commission no such function or power. The Electoral Commission, being a creature of statute, can only lawfully exercise such functions and powers as are conferred by its enabling Act of Parliament. The functions are to be found at Section 6 of the Electoral Commission (Interim) Act.
They do not include advising on the need for legislation governing the registration and funding of political parties, or recommending the form and content of such a law. Section 6 (1) provides that among their functions are to (g) approve political parties eligible to receive state funding with respect to any or all aspects of the electoral process; (h) administer electoral funding disclosure requirements; and (i) monitor election expenditure by candidates or their official agents.
Parliament has an important and constitutional role to play in this matter. It cannot relinquish this role to any other institution or allow it to be derailed by the actions of the present Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Golding demonstrates scant regard for Parliament and parliamentarians when he seeks to undermine their legislative function and responsibilities by suggesting that it is one of the functions of the Electoral Commission.
He (Mr. Golding) has been quoted in the press as not being in favour of the disclosure of the names of the donors and the sources of the funds they donate to political parties and candidates. Should any new legislation fail to deal with such disclosure, it would amount to mere tokenism. But then, perhaps that is the type of legislation he prefers the JLP, under his leadership, to support.
The commissioner of police recently warned the country to expect violence in the next general elections. This important piece of legislation, therefore, as well as the islandwide implementation of the Electronic Voter Identification and Ballot Issuing System, to which the Government is committed, cannot therefore be overstated. The fact is that those who perpetuate political violence are funded tocarry out such activities on behalf of their political party. It is therefore clear that any law requiring disclosure of the source and expenditure of funding by political parties will go a long way in curbing and exposing such nefarious activities.
It is amusing that in an effort to again pursue his attempts at derailing the debate on the bill entitled 'The Registration and Funding of Political Parties Act', the Leader of the Opposition has now resorted to personal attacks.
In my capacity as Member of Parliament I laid before the House of Representatives the bill entitled 'The Registration and Funding of Political Parties Act' in May 2006, long before the Trafigura affair came into being in September/October 2006. It is therefore shamelessly dishonest for Golding to say, and I again quote from The Gleaner of January 29, 2007, "This is something that the Electoral Commission has full authority over and not for the government, aided by Mr. Dabdoub, to try and sneak through the back door to take the heat off Trafigura."
I certainly do not regard myself as some sort of fortune-teller or prophet. I certainly could not predict in May 2006, when I laid the bill, the occurrence of Trafigura in September/October 2006. I am certainly not like some persons who constantly predict election dates to the point of announcing an intention to deliver their 2006 Christmas message as Prime Minister from Jamaica House. Jamaica, fortunately, has been spared such an affliction.
Abe Dabdoub is Member of Parliament for North East St. Catherine.
