Coalition denies use of State funds for campaigning

Elections campaign manager f0r the APNU+AFC Coalition Joseph Harmon on Friday rejected allegations that the parties are using State funds to finance its campaign rallies across the country.

The Coalition has held massive rallies in the ten administrative regions and several public meetings in its bid to capture enough votes to win the 2020 elections.

“It’s a ridiculous assertion that State funding is used for campaigns because we are not using the state’s funds,” Harmon told the media at the sidelines of his party’s manifesto launch in Georgetown.

He added: “The funds that we are using for campaign are funds which we have raised as a result of persons who feel that the programs which we are embracing see there’s a future for Guyana in it and they want to invest in that future.”

Asked how much it has cost the coalition to campaign for these elections, Harmon said “elections campaigning is very expensive” but said he is unsure but will likely reveal this information at the end of the campaign season.

Elections are set for March 2, 2020.

The PNC/R executive said “at the end of our campaign, all of our campaign managers are required to prepare a statement and I suppose at the appropriate time, we will make that call (to reveal financiers).”

Both of the major political parties have touted Campaign Finance legislation previously but have not made on progress on enacting same.

Recently one of the new parties contesting the 2020 elections –The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) – revealed information on its campaign finances. The party with a smaller magnitude of campaigning showed that between October 1, 2019 – January 31, 2020, it has received $2,509,850 from 27 donors but did not name its donors.

The party said no donor has exceeded US$10,000 but if that occur, those persons will be named.

TCI also outlined how it spent the monies collected.