Editorial
A Level Playing Field for AllCandidates
Information has come fromthe Elections Office -- with, it says the advice of legal counsel-- that the $1,000 deposit paid by candidates for their run topolitical office on Nomination Day is to be considered an Electionsexpense - that is, part of the maximum $10,000 each candidateis legally allowed to spend in their election campaign.
That this has come in the eleventh hour of the current campaign,has quite understandably put some candidates is a quandary, asthey struggle to make up ground in the promotion of their bidfor office. It has also placed some in jeopardy of having to paya punitive fine for breach of the spending limit. Those candidateswho have already fully paid for their campaign spending may nothave this worry.
Since the legislation limiting election spending was enacted in1996, promotional costs - media and collaterals -- have skyrocketed,and what was possible then for an effective promotion of campaignplatforms, has, in today's dollars become a budgeting balancingact.
New candidates who must of necessity expend more resources inmaking themselves known than incumbents, must find this rulingparticularly galling. It is hardly worth arguing that candidateschances for election increase exponentially with the visibilityof their profile -- which most incumbents already have -- andto the extent that they are able to market themselves and theircampaign platform to the public.
This takes money; and in a race as crowded as the present one,the paltry sum of $10,000 which includes the nomination fee, canhardly be seen as a serious starting point, given today's prices.Moreover, it may be argued, that candidates have a moral dutyto fully and properly present and promote themselves to the voterswhose endorsement and trust they are seeking.
It is worth reflecting that this figure represents 12 percentof the annual salary for a Member of the Legislative Assembly-- and over a four-year term, less than three percent of theirincome.
The onus may well be on those within the present corps of candidateswho are fortunate enough to form the next government, to reviewthis legislation with a view to setting new spending guidelines,that take into consideration current realities of increasing mediaand related costs.
Taking into consideration the proliferation and attendant competitivenessof today's media in Cayman - and the increasing need to informthe electors about the issues affecting their future, it is onlyfair that they and their candidates are not cheated out of theoppotunity to assess their choices.
It is time to ensure a level playing field. The proper exerciseof democracy requires it.