In light of rumours that Chinese Company, Bai Shan Lin had financed the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) with millions of dollars to support its campaigning during last year’s General and Regional Elections, Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has declared that his Party never received monies from that company for such.
He told the media recently that upon speaking with both the PPP/C’s General Secretary and Finance Secretary, he was told that Bai Shan Lin has not given any money to his Party.
Meanwhile, President David Granger, has refused to list the names of persons or amounts given by financiers to the APNU+AFC coalition for the 2015 General Elections campaign.
On his weekly television programme, “Public Interest” he stated that the reason for taking this position is that he does not want certain businesses to become victims of “politically-inspired boycotts.”
However, the President has assured that the monies which the APNU+AFC received for its campaigning were not linked to any criminal activities (money-laundering etc).
Also, the donors had requested that their identities be kept confidential and not disclosed for personal reasons such as fear of being blacklisted or boycotted, he said.
“We don’t want that kind of witch-hunting in the country and we have complied with the request of donors not to disclose their identities…it is not dirty money…People can be very vindictive once they know that contributions have been made to a political party, they have been blacklisted,” President Granger noted.
Meanwhile, he assured that when the Campaign Financing legislation is approved before the next general and regional elections, the APNU+AFC coalition will comply with that law.
Recently, there have been widespread reports that a number of companies have donated huge sums to the APNU+AFC coalition for the Party to contest the elections held last year.
Since then, the Government had been questioned repeatedly as to the financiers and the figures they donated but to no avail.
