The T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC), the T&T Manufacturers’ Association, the Energy Chamber and the American Chamber of Industry and Commerce of T&T are calling on Parliament to place campaign financing legislative reform on the agenda as a matter of national urgency.
“We support all efforts to place campaign financing on the forefront of the national agenda and endorse any move for a legislative framework that mandates a full disclosure by all elected officials of the use of public resources in the political and campaigning arena,” the TTCIC said yesterday.
“Given the levels of expenditure we have seen in past election campaigns, we believe reform will go a long way in moving campaigning away from monetary giveaways and influences and allow, instead, for a level financial playing field where candidates compete on issues and how they plan to deal with them.”
The TTCIC said a lack of proper legislation does not create an environment of fairness for all parties contesting the elections or for transparency and accountability on how public and corporate funds are spent and contracts awarded. “This has the devastating potential to erode the ideals of representative governance and enable the unsavoury influence of special interest money on those elected.
“We cannot continue to comment on the deleterious effects of crime without focusing on the effect that secrecy in campaign financing has on the public’s perception of wrongdoing at the highest level of society.”