Financial donations by business interests have long bedevilled political parties and Barbados must therefore frankly examine its political culture, pollster and political scientist Peter Wickham suggested on Thursday.
Weighing in on robust public debate on recent revelations from a
court case that Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw received a cheque from a local business which she said funded charitable work in her constituency, Wickham contended this was nothing out of the ordinary in the political arena.
He acknowledged that the development has understandably sparked
some questions but noted that Bradshaw’s early public handling of the matter and the subsequent statement from the donor stood in her favour.
Wickham said: “She was upfront in bringing the issue to the public’s attention as distinct from this information coming to the public by
the way. She has advised that the money was not solicited, and the donor has supported that claim and also noted that he delivered the cheque to her office without her prior knowledge.”
In her statement, Bradshaw, the St Michael South East MP explained: “The cheque for $7 500 represents a charitable contribution to my annual Christmas hamper and food voucher programme. I have been spearheading this effort for several years now and have been assisted by several businesses and business persons over the years. This programme predates my becoming a minister of government.”
At the weekend, Errol Clarke, the owner of civil engineering firm
Errol Clarke Associates, disclosed that his company provided the cheque in
Bradshaw’s name but was adamant that it was not made with any intent to receive favours.
“Ms Bradshaw’s charity was among several such causes we assisted
this year,” he said. “Christmas is a time of providing relief to the
less fortunate in our society and over the years our company has regularly made monetary contributions to organisations that provide assistance to the needy including churches, fraternities and both political parties. Last time I checked, several other companies in Barbados do the exact same.”
Wickham noted that there was no getting away from the reality that
Barbados’ political culture embraces the reliance on corporate sponsorship for MPs to execute expected activities such as the annual hamper drive.
He continued: “Ms Bradshaw indicated that she distributed 800
hampers and one would recall that in recent times, former finance minister [Chris] Sinckler boasted [of] having set a record by distributing 1 000 hampers along with the odd flat screen television and iPads. These types of activities are conservatively estimated to cost between $200 000 to $300 000 and, as such, are well beyond the normal capacity of an MP who receives $2 500 per month to assist with community work.
“Over time, we appear to have accepted that it is normal for MPs
to rely on benefactors to fund Christmas parties and hamper drives and I am concerned that the reaction to this more recent episode reflects the suggestion that Bradshaw’s initiative is peculiar or unpopular in some way. Certainly, if we attempt to create a system to police corporate giving out of assistance then we also need to appreciate that the hampers and parties will either disappear or be scaled down considerably.”
Wickham further pointed to a long history of cheques that have
caused challenges for both Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administrations.
“…. It would appear that well-intended contributions to the political work of parties subsequently became sensational political fodder in much the same way that this most recent cheque has,” he noted.
Wickham knocked DLP President Dr Ronnie Yearwood for calling for
Bradshaw to resign or be fired, referring to previous concerns raised by Yearwood about the DLP’s heavy reliance on corporate sponsorship to fund its activities.
The political scientist also issued a challenge to Yearwood: “I would be keen to see Yearwood take the lead in this regard and disclose publicly the persons or companies funding his campaign, the DLP’s Christmas parties and other recent events, and to go further and indicate if payments
were made to him directly or the DLP, or perhaps if he, himself, has a charity.”
Amid calls for the government to proclaim the Integrity in Public Life Act which Parliament passed last year, Wickham declared his support for the move but suggested even if it was the law, the matter in question would not be an issue.
“I agree it should be proclaimed but we also need to understand that it will be a costly mechanism to fund and even if [the Integrity Commission] was up and running, it would have made no difference to this type of scenario,” Wickham told Barbados TODAY. “The actions and outcomes would have been no different if there was a commission in place as Bradshaw would have had ample time to make such a declaration.”
Citing Trinidad and Tobago’s Integrity Commission, he noted that
it has only so far acted on one occasion when it was discovered that former, now late, prime minister Basdeo Panday had failed to declare a UK bank account for 1997, 1998, and 1999, which was a gift from CL Duprey, the head of the now-defunct insurance company CLICO.
“In that instance, it is noteworthy that several years passed and he did not file,” Wickham noted. “In this instance, the cheque was issued at Christmas time and the matter came to light a week later. This is the single case we have of an IPL [Integrity in Public Life] bill or legislation being used to go after a PM.”
Wickham also suggested that Bradshaw was unlikely to face political fallout from the incident.
He said: “At the level of the constituency, no… not at all, but it is unfortunate this issue emerges at a time when persons are reflecting on the possibility of her becoming the next PM and at that level, it might create some perpetual problems, especially if other contenders are not being forced to answer such questions themselves.” (SD)
