KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) says it has engaged the private sector on the recently enacted legislation governing the funding of election campaigns.

Under the theme Campaign Financing: Responsibilities and Implications for Candidates and Contributors, the ECJ said it outlined the legal and regulatory framework during the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) President’s Breakfast Forum at the Spanish Court Hotel recently.

Jamaica is said to be the first Caribbean country to implement Election Campaign Financing law, which came into effect on March 1, 2018.

The ECJ said the new legislation requires that political parties and candidates report not only their campaign expenses but declare their sources of funding. Similarly, contributors to political parties and candidates are required to declare their contributions toward the financing of election campaigns.

Speaking at the forum, Chairman of the ECJ, Dorothy Pine-McLarty, noted that the legislation is designed to promote transparency in the financing of election campaigns.

“It is my belief that the Election Campaign Financing legislation will reinforce confidence in the Jamaican electoral system. It will also increase transparency and accountability in campaign financing and reduce the perception of corruption in campaign expenditure thereby improving the credibility of our electoral system and Jamaica as a stable business destination,” she was quoted as saying in a release from the ECJ this afternoon.

Howard Mitchell, President of the PSOJ, welcomed the dialogue and commended the ECJ for their efforts in implementing the long-awaited legislation. He also pledged his support to promoting awareness of the law and endorsing the principles of fairness, transparency and accountability in election campaigning.

The ECJ noted that the concept of campaign financing is not new to Jamaica’s electoral system and since 2011, there was a limit of $10 million on campaign expenditure for each candidate and candidates were required to submit declarations of their expenses within six weeks after an election.