Mark Myers, president, Jamaica Chamber of Commerce. - file

The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) yesterday labelled as "inappropriate" the $31 million campaign contribution by the Dutch oil trader Trafigura Beheer, to the governing People's National Party (PNP), saying the gift helps to reinforce the perception of a culture of corruption in Jamaica.

But while the JCC stopped short of telling the PNP to give back the money, it threw its support behind calls for legislation governing contributions to political parties and said an interim code of conduct should be put in place ahead of the next general election.

"... It is critical that, as a matter of the greatest urgency, legislation be agreed and passed to govern the contributions to political parties and their affiliates, by foreign and local donors," the JCC said in a statement issued by its recently-elected president Mark Myers.

But with speculation rife that Jamaicans could go to the polls before year-end, therefore providing little time for the drafting and debate of legislation, Myers said that the parties should "agree to a code of conduct and format for public disclosure" of contributions for the coming election.

Done nothing wrong

PNP General Secretary Colin Campbell yesterday insisted that the party had done nothing wrong in accepting the Trafigura cash.

"Any contribution to the People's National Party is under certain conditions," Campbell told The Gleaner. "It buys you nothing: no quid pro quo and secondly, the money must be clean. You must not have got it in any ill gotten way."

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding set off a political firestorm on Tuesday when he walked out of House of Representative, where legislators were debating a censure motion against one of his members, Karl Samuda, to tell reporters about the Trafigura contribution and to display canceled cheques written by and to governing party officials.

Trafigura has a contract to trade crude oil supplied by Nigeria to Jamaica and Golding's clear innuendo was that the payments represented kickbacks. However, PNP officials were vehement that this was not money belonging to the State and was in fact a direct contribution by Trafigura to their party.

But the Mark Myers-led Chamber in yesterday's statement noted Trafigura's business relationship with Jamaica and said that its gift raised the potential for conflicts of interest.

"There will always be occasions when a gift to a political party is inappropriate and should be refused by the party," Myers said on behalf of the organisation. "In our view, this is one such occasion."

"Donations like this, while not illegal, contribute to a perception of a culture of corruption," the JCC said.

The issue of campaign contributions and the financing of political parties have been on and off the agenda of political debate for several years, but has recently been on again.

Last month, the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC), the watchdog election management body here, steered the two major political parties, the PNP and Golding's Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to a consensus on contribution levels, reporting requirements and State support. These, however, are to be reviewed by the legislature.

The Chamber of Commerce, in the meantime, said it would be willing to help the parties work through its proposed interim arrangement for the coming election.

"In the national interest, the JCC offers its good offices to facilitate the consummation of such an agreement," said the new JCC president.