JAMAICA | Of Influence Peddling and Vote buying !

KINGSTON, Jamaica September 23, 2023 - The phenomenon of influence peddling and vote buying in Jamaica has reached such sinister levels, that it is beginning to affect party internal elections where thousands and even millions of dollars are being spent to elect persons to posts within the various parties.

 In the last general elections, politicians forked out millions to buy votes, and in a recent By- Election, the electors called it a “Buy Election” based on the large sums of money that was on display from one political party. 

According to the former political ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown in a damning report “In one constituency, persons were being offered $5,000 to vote, but demanded more, otherwise they would not leave their houses to vote.”

The report said vote-buying was especially rampant among the youth. By the way, this government has done away with the post of political ombudsman designed to look into matters such as vote buying.

In a recent election of a Mid-island constituency that shall remain nameless,in excess of a million dollars were shoveled out to delegates who were called on by persons sitting comfortably in their SUVs, to “support fe mi candidate, ” see a change yah! 

The cost of a vote? Depending on who you are, it could be between five and ten thousand dollars. Heavy influencers were paid twenty thousand dollars.

The question is, where does all that money come from ? Certainly, it's not from the candidates pockets. Rather it’s more likely from the Political Action Committee (PAC) established by persons a-washed with money, and with an aim in view, to support certain candidates in their bid for political power. 

Power to plunder and power to influence government policy whether by action or inaction, whichever suits them best. Clearly, they are not going to invest this type of money and dont expend a lucrative return on their investment.

This type of influence peddling is reminiscent of  the Mexican Drug Cartel, which under Mexican election law, political parties and politicians are allowed to give voters gifts as long as the gift is not meant to influence their votes. The cost of such gifts must be reported to election authorities and can’t exceed campaign spending limits.

Influencing an elector to vote for a particular candidate is illegal under Jamaica’s electoral laws, the Representation of the People Act, and is punishable by a minimum fine of $10,000, 12 months in prison or both.

Section 91 of the Representation of the People's Act, makes it illegal for any person to use money or other valuable consideration to procure votes or have somebody refrain from voting. Vote-buying is a crime that is punishable by a fine ranging from $20,000 to $80,000.00 and/or imprisonment from three to five years.

This however, does not prevent the devious, deliberate and despicable acts of vote-buying and vote-bribing which is disfranchising voters of their right to elect a clean, uncorrupt representative. 

However, Politicians on both sides of the fence have been guilty of this for many decades, as those who never practiced it are forced to take a second look, because they end up second or third in a first-past-the-post race. Vote-buying and/or vote-bribing are unfair, undemocratic and unlawful. However, it has unfortunately become a tradition as well as pervasive in Jamaica. 

The power to stop this shameful and corrupt practice lies squarely in the hands of the electorate. But then, given the state of the economy where for many, “nutten nah gwaan,” they will take the money, democracy be damned and the cycle continues! 

Clearly, the voters now know which politicians are corrupt, based on the offer to purchase their votes! The question is, who benefits?  Is it the politician? Clearly it isn’t as in the long run, he or she now has someone else pulling the strings to the puppet show ! 

But who cares? 

Is it that our democracy, you wonder, has gone to hell in a drug basket?

And what of the newly enticed entrants into the political fray, who want to serve and offer their skill to the governance structure of the country? 

They are  either forced out of the runnings, as new entrants, or choose to create Super PACs to fight the narco money.

Now how can we renew our politics if the leaders of the political parties will not open their eyes and see what's happening to the country? Is it a question that they, willingly or not, are the first puppets being led?

Over to you Andrew Holness and Mark Golding!