SL doesn't have campaign financing laws : State Minister Eran Wickremeratne

Colombo (News 1st): According to State Minister Eran Wickremeratne, Sri Lanka remains one of the few countries in the region that does not have campaign financing laws. Sri Lanka certainly lags behind regional neighbor Singapore for instance. Singapore's Political Donations Act actively prohibits non-Singaporean individuals or companies to make a donation of a political nature. In the United States, most political donations are either small or large. In context US$ 200 is considered small and anything over US$ 250 is considered large. All information relating to the details of the donor is available for the public to view and in this day and age, the information is freely available on the internet. Internationally campaign finance laws are not limited to financial donations only. Executive Director at CPA Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu noted that after all, in a functioning democracy, elections are the basic mechanism for choice and change. He noted that when considering this question they have to ensure that elections are won freely and fairly and are not influenced by the vast amount of rupees and cents available to any political party. Dr Saravanamuttu noted that there is also a philosophical question and that is with regard to as to whether the state should put a cap on the amount of money that a political party spends to get into office. He said they have a right to raise as much finance, but the key question is that of accountability and transparency. He went onto note that if people are given the information as to who is providing and how much they are providing, then, there is that degree of transparency and the people can decide whether they want to support that party or not. He noted it is an all-inclusive debate because it is a very key question of the way the public elect their leaders.