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JFJ head hits back at Pryce
JFJ head hits back at Pryce
Published: Thursday | July 25, 2013 3 Comments
Pryce
Gomes
Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer Human rights lobby [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Jamaicans[/COLOR][/COLOR] for Justice (JFJ) has hit back at North East [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]St [COLOR=blue !important]Elizabeth[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Member of Parliament Raymond Pryce for tabling a private member's motion calling for local interest groups to be required to disclose their sources of funding.
Describing the pronouncement as "ill-informed", JFJ Executive Director Dr [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Carolyn[/COLOR][/COLOR] Gomes challenged Pryce to instead turn the spotlight on his own People's National Party (PNP), which she said has never once told the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]country[/COLOR][/COLOR] where it got the money to fund numerous political campaigns.
"It's a very unfortunate, ill-informed statement by Mr Pryce, which he could have saved himself the embarrassment if he spent five minutes doing a little research," said Gomes. "Our sources of financing are well known. They are provided publicly every time we have an annual general [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]meeting[/COLOR][/COLOR] and we have one every year."
Focus on PNP
She added: "In fact, Jamaicans for Justice provided more public accounting in the 14 years of its existence than the PNP has in 75 years of (existence)." Gomes then charged that "he needs to persuade the political party of which he is a member to provide their sources of funding for the people to see". (school the youth Caroline)
The JFJ as well as the National Integrity Action (NIA) have long lobbied for Parliament to speed up the enactment of legislation to govern how political parties are funded.
The legislation is intended to ensure that commercial or criminal interest groups are not able to exert undue influence over politicians at the expense of public interest, because of the money they donate to the parties.
"None of the political parties have ever provided public evidence or audited statements, whereas, we provide it every year. It is ..., perhaps, a distraction that we need not spend too much time over," Gomes told The Gleaner yesterday.
Pryce, on Tuesday, said a regime requiring funding disclosure to interest groups should be brought into effect at the same time the law requiring political parties to disclose funding is being promulgated.
He said while organisations such as JFJ and NIA help to keep democracy alive, at the same time, many of them can receive funds in a "subversive way" that has hidden agendas.
nedburn.thaffe@gleanerjm.com
Published: Thursday | July 25, 2013 3 Comments
Pryce
Gomes
Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer Human rights lobby [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Jamaicans[/COLOR][/COLOR] for Justice (JFJ) has hit back at North East [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]St [COLOR=blue !important]Elizabeth[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Member of Parliament Raymond Pryce for tabling a private member's motion calling for local interest groups to be required to disclose their sources of funding.
Describing the pronouncement as "ill-informed", JFJ Executive Director Dr [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Carolyn[/COLOR][/COLOR] Gomes challenged Pryce to instead turn the spotlight on his own People's National Party (PNP), which she said has never once told the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]country[/COLOR][/COLOR] where it got the money to fund numerous political campaigns.
"It's a very unfortunate, ill-informed statement by Mr Pryce, which he could have saved himself the embarrassment if he spent five minutes doing a little research," said Gomes. "Our sources of financing are well known. They are provided publicly every time we have an annual general [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]meeting[/COLOR][/COLOR] and we have one every year."
Focus on PNP
She added: "In fact, Jamaicans for Justice provided more public accounting in the 14 years of its existence than the PNP has in 75 years of (existence)." Gomes then charged that "he needs to persuade the political party of which he is a member to provide their sources of funding for the people to see". (school the youth Caroline)
The JFJ as well as the National Integrity Action (NIA) have long lobbied for Parliament to speed up the enactment of legislation to govern how political parties are funded.
The legislation is intended to ensure that commercial or criminal interest groups are not able to exert undue influence over politicians at the expense of public interest, because of the money they donate to the parties.
"None of the political parties have ever provided public evidence or audited statements, whereas, we provide it every year. It is ..., perhaps, a distraction that we need not spend too much time over," Gomes told The Gleaner yesterday.
Pryce, on Tuesday, said a regime requiring funding disclosure to interest groups should be brought into effect at the same time the law requiring political parties to disclose funding is being promulgated.
He said while organisations such as JFJ and NIA help to keep democracy alive, at the same time, many of them can receive funds in a "subversive way" that has hidden agendas.
nedburn.thaffe@gleanerjm.com
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