Business Community Renews Call for Campaign Finance Reform

With municipal elections still months away, the race is already picking up speed. Candidates are hitting the streets, campaign spending is ramping up, and political slates are taking shape across the country. But once again, there’s a familiar concern, no rules requiring parties to disclose where their campaign money comes from or how it’s spent. The Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry says that lack of transparency is a problem, and with election season underway, it’s renewing its call for urgent campaign finance reform.

 

William Usher, Vice-President, Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry

“The important thing for us is transparency. We need to know, everybody need – who are financing? How much they are financing? The reality is I don’t – we don’t believe that the population don’t want to see campaign being financed. It’s a part of politics. It’s a part of governance. But what we truly want is transparency because as you know, financing can come from anywhere and we don’t want illicit financing. We don’t want people to be coming back for what they have given. For more than two decades, campaign finance reform has remained on the national agenda, yet successive administrations of government have not advanced comprehensive legislation. So in that light, the chamber intend to continue advocating for reforms through its broader governance agenda and these points along that agenda includes maintaining public advocacy, stakeholder engagement on the issue, encouraging continued national dialogue among civil society, labor organization, political stakeholders and the private sector obviously. As you know. the Plan Belize do have information in that light. We just need them to continue working on that.”

 

In 2023, the Chamber of Commerce developed draft legislation that calls for the establishment of a National Election Campaign Fund, mandatory disclosure of campaign donations and cap on campaign donations and spending, among other regulations. 

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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