LOP tips Trinidad and Tobago MPs on legislation

By Ritah Kemigisa

The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga has advised Members of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago to exercise caution when writing laws on campaign financing.

Addressing Members of a joint select committee of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago that is scrutinising The Representation of the People [Amendment] [No.2] Bill 2020, Mpuuga advised the MPs to draft a law that establishes an independent entity to handle political party financing.

His address to the MPs of the dual island Caribbean nation on Monday night is part of the peer-to-peer exchange program supported by the International Republic Institute (IRI), an organisation funded under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Besides providing for a legal framework for campaign financing, money laundering and corruption, the draft law also seeks to expand the functions of Trinidad and Tobago’s Elections and Boundaries Commission.

Such a body, Mpuuga said, needs to act without undue influence from the government.

According to Mpuuga, as of today, no opposition political party activity can take place outside the walls of the party headquarters or within the precincts of the Parliamentary building.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna