Political parties registration will ensure greater transparency
Prime Minister Andrew Holness yesterday said the registration of political parties will ensure greater transparency and accountability, and is transformational for the country’s democracy.
Speaking at the official launch of political parties’ registration at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, Holness said this is a milestone achievement in the history of Jamaica.
“Today’s launch is another manifestation of the Government’s focus on institutional reform, in order to ensure our political and economic environment is conducive to productivity, transparency and growth,” he said.
The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) began registering political parties on January 2, in keeping with the Political Parties Registration Regulations, 2017.
The regulations, which fall under the Representation of the People Act, provide a framework for the registration and deregistration of political parties, the monitoring of their finances, and also facilitates a system whereby an accurate and up-to-date record can be kept on each political party.
Holness said the legislation formalises political parties, which are now required to provide details of their operations, “thereby lifting the veil, because there is a sense that political parties are unregulated private fraternities”.
He noted that the registration of political parties represents a “major shift” in how these institutions have been viewed in the history of Jamaica, and stressed that political parties must now lead from the front and set their houses in order. “We must ensure that the mask of anonymity is removed,” he added.
“With the requirement of registration of political parties, we have now ensured that there is a legislative underpinning that ensures objectivity and adherence to set standards and procedures without regard to who is in power,” the prime minister said.
He argued that Jamaica continues to be on the frontier of strengthening its political processes, noting that these recent regulations “again place us as leader in political institutional reform in the Caribbean”.
