Analysts: Candidates’ spending not as important

Two political analysts have agreed that the public declaration of who is funding political parties is more important than the just released candidates spending.

A published advertisement in last week’s SUNDAY SUN revealed that combined, the ruling Barbados Labour Party’s 30 candidates spent almost three times the amount of their main opposition the Democratic Labour Party’s $565 929.97 total. The Return of Election Expenses list released by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC) shows that Member of Parliament for Christ Church East Central and Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn had the highest total of any candidate spending $103 317.12 of the BLP’s overall $1 555 108.07 in the February 11 General Election.

When contacted for a reaction political analysts Professor Cynthia Barrow-Giles and Devaron Bruce said the emphasis should be on revealing sources of party campaign financing in the interest of transparency and good governance, with both questioning the capacity of the EBC in any event to verify the individual spending by candidates in their bid to win a seat in Parliament.