Tag Archives: campaign financing

Mark Twain is credited with the saying: “We have the best government that money can buy.”  Locally, we have not been shy about accepting money from unaccountable sources. Our non-existent rules about political campaign rules enable greedy political investors to corrupt our nation and destroy trust.  As Chinua Achebe observed …

“[…] The MSJ condemns the PNM and UNC, as they have in effect colluded to kill the The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill. “[…] If it ever becomes law, it would require political parties to be registered similarly to companies and mandate that parties present audited financial statements and …

The Bible has remarkable insights into power politics: indeed, the popular series Games of Thrones may have drawn inspiration from it. We are witnessing the intrigues and drama of local politics as two powerful tribes—kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and honest men—play a deadly, internecine game for control.  …

Louis D Brandeis was a well known Justice of the US Supreme Court. In 1913, three years before his appointment, while an outspoken advocate for financial and government transparency as a means of curbing corruption, he wrote a piece in Harper’s Weekly magazine in support of the regulation of banks. …

Probably for the first time, the government and the Opposition paid official attention in Parliament to the non-governmental organisations and non-profit entities (NGOs) that play a significant and life-saving role in the socio-economic and cultural life of our country, even though they may have dished out funds to them on …

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is still being commended by some for taking decisive action in firing Ms Marlene McDonald for a second time. If Dr Rowley had any appreciation for the philosophy that “politicians serve their party best when they put their country first”, Ms McDonald would not have …

Effective implementation of meaningful legislation to govern procurement, campaign financing, party financing and whistle blowing must be made the top priority of the Dr Keith Rowley-led PNM Government. Systems must be put in place to properly protect our patrimony and minimise opportunities for the pilferage of our money before we …

The respective teams led by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition met two Fridays ago on violent crime. The main promise afterward was that there would be co-operation on anti crime legislation, including the Government giving the Opposition early notice of the Bills it intended to introduce …

Civic watchdog group, Fixin’ T&T, today slammed Stuart Young, the Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister, for “vacuous” promises regarding campaign financing legislation. Young vowed to present legislation before the next general election. However, Fixin’ T&T, which is …

Civic watch group, Fixin’ T&T, has congratulated Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for doing “the right thing” in dismissing Housing and Urban Development Minister Marlene McDonald. However, the group also urged Rowley to prioritise meaningful legislation on procurement, campaign financing, party financing and whistle blowing and create a more financially …

In part two of this two-part series, Fuad Abu Bakr, political leader of the New National Vision (NNV), responds to suggestions that he has no business in politics because of his father Yasin Abu Bakr’s history and gives the NNV’s position on same-sex relationships and marriage and campaign financing. Abu …