Already the public is being bombarded with full-colour advertisments and television spots from politicial parties seeking voter approval, but how are these expensive and expansive campaigns being funded?
This is one of the questions Disclosure Today, an independent not-for-profit organisation, has posed to all political parties through its Political Finance Transparency Initiative 2015.
Over the past two weeks, Disclosure Today–an Internet transparency platform, led by attorney Margaret Rose, founder of Caribbean Procurement Institute, has issued letters to 15 politicial parties, including the United National Congress (UNC), People's National Movement (PNM) and the Independent Liberal Party (ILP), calling on them to make eight commitments to the electorate.
The organisation is seeking to have each party reveal their main financiers for the 2015 general election.
Each party has been given a 21-day deadline to respond.
"Although substantial lip service has been paid to the need for campaign finanace transparency to date nothing has been achieved, with the result that the people of T&T are being asked once again to vote into government a party or candidate without any knowledge as to which special interests have financed their campaign," Disclosure Today said in a statement to the Sunday Guardian.
Campaign and party financing reform has been a longstanding issue which each party committed to making a reality, but to date no substantive legislation has been enacted to address it. A Joint Select Committee was established by the People's Partnership but that committee was unable to make any recommendations or establish guidelines before Parliament was dissolved last Wednesday.
The issue also surfaced when ILP leader Jack Warner, who has been indicted by the US on allegations of racketeering and corruption during his tenure as Fifa vice president and Concacaf president, claimed he financed the UNC 2010 campaign.
Disclosure Today said, in its statement, that it "does not believe that the people of T&T should have to wait for legislation to be passed in order to know this fundamental information (of who is financing their campaign). There is absolutely nothing to stop the parties and candidates from disclosing today."
Election financing transparency, the organisation said, "requires proper record keeping of donations, expenditure and sources of cash and in-kind assistance, in respect of the political party, its officers and individual party candidates."
What they are asking of politicial parties?
Disclosure Today is requesting a commitment that the party will comply with all requirements of Section 4 of the Code of Ethical Political Conduct, keep proper records of all cash and in-kind donations received by the political party, whether directly or indirectly, for the purposes of hosting political meetings, print, broadcast and online advertising, and other general election campaigning and party expenses ie, events, transportation, custom advertising, clothing and gifts, and proper records will be kept of the total expenditure by the political party and every third-party supplier of goods, works and/or services for the purposes of the election campaign.
Disclosure Today is also requesting that 48 hours before election day a statement be disclosed to the people of T&T and the media containing a list of all sources of funds whether cash or in-kind from a single source (including servants and/or agents or representatives) where the aggregate donations exceed $50,000.
The organisation is also requesting that each party's manifesto include a commitment that if successful at the election, the political party and electoral finance legislative reform will be undertaken within the five-year term after open and adequate public consultations that ensure maximum citizen engagement in the design of the legislation.