The Tribune

THE Democratic National Alliance yesterday questioned if the government’s Gaming Bill, which the party said caters to “the whims” of a select group, was payback for reported campaign donations from webshop bosses to the PLP ahead of the last general election. The party said the new legislation highlighted the need for campaign finance legislation which would force political organisations to disclose all sources of election funding.

“In addition to inviting the potential for new levels of government corruption, the recently tabled gaming legislation seems to be an effort by this Christie-led administration to reward webshop bosses who have for years operated in contravention of the law; giving the owners of these illegal establishments what equates to a mere slap on the wrist for years of illegal operation with only minimal fines, fees and penalties imposed,” DNA Branville McCartney said in a statement.

“Clearly, the government’s gaming legislation was designed, not with the interests of the wider Bahamian population in mind, but was instead formulated to meet the needs and desires of web shop owners. The question though, is why? Why would a government, which claims to be acting in the best interest of all Bahamians, table legislation which clearly caters to the whims of a select group? Could it perhaps be payback for the millions of dollars reportedly pumped into the PLP 2012 election campaign?”

The DNA urged the government to implement clear guidelines which will govern future election campaign donations.

“Under the new regulations, all political parties would be bound by law to publicly disclose the amounts of all campaign finance donations and make known how those funds were raised,” the DNA said. “In addition, campaign finance reform would also place limits on how much one individual or organisation is allowed to donate to a political party,” Mr McCartney said.

He added: “Doing so will limit the potential influence of special interest groups on government policy and create governments which will execute the will of the people with improved levels of transparency and accountability.”

“...Since taking office, this administration has paid only lip service to the idea of increased transparency in governance while failing at every turn to enact legislation which would eliminate the opacity which currently exists.”