1. “Towards the enactment of a legislative scheme enabling the Registration of Political Parties and the effective monitoring of Political Party and Campaign Financing”

2. The Commission and the Political Parties have conceptually agreed, that to address the critical issues of political finance reform, requires the implementation of a new political finance regulatory regime.

3. Five key components were identified as crucial to such a regulatory regime’s success: 1. Registration of political parties 2. Reporting and publication of information 3. Limits on election expenses and contributions 4. Public funding; and 5. Compliance and enforcement mechanisms

4. Registration of Political Parties The Representation of the People Act Chap. 2:01 (ROP) should either be amended to provide the necessary conditions under which political parties are to be registered, or new legislation be enacted to deal with the issue. The basic requirements are stated hereunder.

5. Provisions for the Registration of Political Parties shall address the following:- 1. Responsibility of the Commission for administering the Office of Registrar of Political Parties and maintaining a Register of Political Parties; and 2. Guidelines for the creation of a political party, its legal recognition, registration and de-registration.

6. To achieve registration a political party would be required to submit the following to the Office of Registrar of Political Parties:  a. full name of the party and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of a specified number of members in good financial standing.  b. short form of the party name or abbreviation, if any.

7.  c. names and addresses of the leader or president, the secretary, the treasurer, the nominating officer and other persons designated as officers of the party;  d. address of the office of the party where the records of the party are maintained and to which communications may be addressed; and  e. Constitution or charter of the party

8. Registration of Political Parties will also cover 1. Criteria for Merging of two or more registered parties; 2. Voluntary deregistration guidelines; 3. Involuntary deregistration i.e. circumstances under which political parties would be deregistered by the Office of the Registrar

9.  Once registered, a political party must comply with the remaining key components of the regulatory regime and their respective legal obligations.  Additionally, several incentives for political parties will also be linked to their proper registration.

10. These may include:  financial benefits such as the ability to provide tax receipts for contributions;  a specified percentage of election expenses;

11.  the entitlement to free and paid broadcasting time; and  eligibility to receive public funds on a quarterly basis when they obtain a certain threshold of votes.

12. Aim - to ensure greater transparency and accountability within political party financing. Registered political parties shall maintain financial records prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The financial records of a registered political party shall be audited by an independent auditor approved by the Elections and Boundaries Commission within ninety days after the close of the financial year of the party

13. Financial records shall include:  Copies of all cheques, money orders and credit card records appropriately signed.  Written loan agreements and copies of the cheques, money orders, credit card records or receipts for cash connected to the receipt and repayment of loans.  Declaration of Donors

14. Legislative Provisions governing political financing shall: 1. State what a contribution is; 2. Identify which political party official can receive contributions on behalf of the registered political party; 3. Identify sources of contributions i.e. who can the party accept a contribution from, eg. legal entities, natural persons;

15. 4. State who Impermissible donors are: a) foreign governments or their agents or agencies; b) Public institutions, statutory bodies, government and quasi-government organizations or any company in which government owns shares;

16. 5. State limits on Contributions to Candidates and Political Parties; 6. Provide for recordkeeping of all contributions. It should be mandatory that both contributions that have been kept and or returned should be recorded.

17. 7. Stipulate the Commission’s authority to compel disclosure from the banks and other financial institutions and audit all bank accounts and financial records of political parties 8. Mandate that contributions from impermissible donors be returned within a specified time.

18.  Public funding can be approached either directly, in the form of reimbursements of election expenses and allocation of on-going allowances or subsidies or indirectly, through monetary incentives such as tax credits to donors and nonmonetary incentives to political entities through the allocation of free broadcasting time and access to electoral products such as electoral maps and lists of electors.

19.  Candidates should receive a stipulated percentage of the popular vote to be entitled to reimbursement of a specified percentage of their election expenses.  Reimbursements of election expenses should also be prescribed for political parties that receive a stipulated percentage of the national popular vote or at least a designated percentage of the votes in the electoral districts in which they fielded candidates.

20.  The percentage reimbursement of election expenses considered could be as much as fifty percent (50%).  It is also recommended that political parties who qualify for reimbursement of election expenses also qualify for an allowance (perhaps on a quarterly or other periodic basis) determined by the number of votes cast for the parties in the last general election.

21.  Provision of free or discounted media will afford political parties and individual candidates an opportunity to present broadcasts or publish printed messages at a reasonable cost (the lowest rate charged the best customer) or perhaps even no cost.

22.  It is recommended that the EBC be established as the political finance regulator. In a society as small as Trinidad and Tobago, the expense of setting up another statutory commission or organization would be exceedingly high and implausible.

23.  Further, one can argue that since the Commission is already mandated to register voters and conduct elections, it is currently best situated to be the political finance regulator.

24.  Additionally, during the bi-lateral consultations there was consensus among the political parties that the Commission is the best placed to be the regulator.

25.  However, the Commission acknowledges that if this were done, it would be necessary for the Commission to employ a host of professional staff with the appropriate credentials on both a full-time and part-time basis as in Canada.

26.  Through the establishment of the Office of the Director of Campaign & Public Financing, the Commission shall have full oversight powers including;  clear authority to enforce the political finance laws in administrative, civil and criminal forums;

27.  power to impose sanctions or initiate proceedings against offenders of the political finance laws; and  access to a range of penalties and sanctions.

29.  Based on the five guidelines mentioned earlier, the Commission awaits Government’s implementation of the required legislation.

30. 1. Registration of political parties 2. Reporting and publication of information 3. Limits on election expenses and contributions 4. Public funding; and 5. Compliance and enforcement mechanisms