Fundraising to be scrutinized under proposed amendment

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, August 21, 2016 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

WITH Elections looming in the not too distant future- political parties are now gearing up with fundraising activities occurring in the country.

Registrar of Political Parties, Dr Alphonse Gelu has stated the need for parties to have funds to conduct their campaigns considering the nature and geography of the country, but to not undermine the democratic conduct of elections in Papua New Guinea.

He said the current Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates does not allow the scrutiny of funds raised by parties, however, the revised OLIPPAC still before parliament would do so.

“Under the current organic law they do not have to tell us how much they raised, who are the contributor, but under the revised law- for any fundraiser- they have to inform us about the fundraiser, about how much raised, inform us about sponsored tabled and so forth.”

“It is important that this information must be known and captured- it boils down to many other issues in the country.”

“The revised law also states that public organizations such government departments, statutory bodies are not allowed to contribute to any fundraiser. We do not want to play politics, our game is to serve the people of this country, and politics is left to the leaders.”

He said money that could be given to the party is public money and could be used to improve the lives of our people in the country.