FORMER Director of Elections Danville Walker says that the corrupt management of internal political party elections will eventually undermine the national polls if the problem is not tackled urgently.

Walker, who is now managing director of this newspaper, also proposed that rules should be laid down to ensure transparent, free and fair internal elections, and if the parties do not comply, the funding they receive should be withheld.

Walker made the comments in a letter to the editor against the background of allegations of electoral fraud in the selection of candidates by both the ruling People’s National Party and the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party in recent weeks.

Here is the full text of his letter.

Dear Editor,

As we approach a General Parliamentary Election both major political parties have had to hold selections to determine who should represent some constituencies. It is disturbing to read irregularities in almost all constituencies by the losing candidate.

Many will dismiss these reports as sour grapes and chastise the losing side as not having the stomach for politics, as they are not prepared to do what is necessary to win.

We once had the most corrupt electoral system in our region, if not internationally. Not that long ago, we impersonated electors, voted repeatedly, and used violence to suppress or force electors to do candidates’ bidding.

The list of atrocities could take pages, but I won’t bore our readers. Many politicians who benefited and were successful would be quick to add that although there were irregularities, no Government was decided by the use of these atrocities. In other words, a few MPs who should not have won probably did, but the Government of the day reflected the will of the people. That is easily one of the most ignorant statements I have ever heard uttered about our elections.

I remember former Prime Minister PJ Patterson saying that the 2002 General Elections was the first he could recall that no losing candidate filed an election petition. It was so well run.

Election corruption robs not just today’s candidate, but also the country of future candidates.

If the deck is stacked and the process deemed unfair, then good people will not enter the political fray, and the result is garrisons. We are where we are because of the leaders we have elected, and also those who choose not to run.

Electoral corruption in the political parties lead to corrupt practices that will eventually undermine the national polls. In both political parties I have read of complaints about the voters’ list used in their contests. This is the root of most corrupt electoral practices.

The general secretaries of both political parties must be held accountable for the management of these elections. They clearly either condone corrupt practices or are incompetent. The leaders of the political parties must also remember that their tenure is temporary and history will judge them harshly if they sit quietly while electoral crimes are committed for short-term gains.

The Electoral Office once ran many internal political party elections. There clearly was a policy decision not to continue to offer this service. A most myopic and flawed decision.

I put it to you, Mr Editor, that the corruption of our national election system has begun in earnest and the roots of that corruption begin in the political parties and how their internal elections are conducted.

The Electoral Commission, on which the leadership of the political parties sit, appears unconcerned, uninterested and indifferent. Professor Miller used to remark that in Jamaica, after we fix a problem we have a tendency to unfix it, so that we can come back and fix it again.

We must address these matters, not when they reach the national elections, but within the political parties. When the educated tribalists scoff and remind you that these political parties are private entities, please remind them of the vast amount of taxpayer dollars they receive and that near 50 per cent of the electorate do not think they are worthy of a vote because of the decisions they take and how they conduct themselves.

The corruption of the electoral process in our political parties must be vigorously attacked and rules laid down to ensure transparent, free and fair elections. Without compliance to the accepted rules, the significant funding political parties receive should be withheld.