FORMER PEOPLE'S National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament Danny Melville once described the job of a politician as being a "corner don, a coordinator of patronage and an attender of funerals."

This, no doubt, was among the reasons for Mr. Melville's resignation as Member of Parliament (MP) in 2000, three years after being elected MP for North East St. Ann. Despite the damning picture of being a political representative painted by Mr. Melville, there seems to be no let up in the ambitions of persons to get one of the 60 powerful Gordon House seats, even though it comes at great cost.

Sunday Gleaner interviews with political insiders suggest that persons eying parliamentary seats should be prepared to spend up to $10 millions on campaigning to have a realistic chance of becoming a Member of Parliament.

Talking to The Sunday Gleaner about the entry of young people into representational politics, Robert Pickersgill, chairman of the People's National Party (PNP), says "representational politics is not cheap."

The unwritten rule of politics requires a politician to spend loads of cash while at the same time demonstrating connection with the people whom he hopes to represent. Montego Bay businessman Donat Crichton recalls spending $2 million in a losing effort when he contested the 2003 Local Government Election.

SLAVERY UNDERTONE

A man who says he is strongly against the 'buy vote culture,' which he believes has a slavery undertone, Mr. Crichton says plenty money has to be spent on mobilising voters.

"As soon as you enter communities, people will tell you about their problems. If you are a politician that wants to win, you are going to try and help them to solve these problems and that is where money comes in," he says.

Christopher Tufton, the JLP candidate for South West St. Elizabeth, who describes the financial cost of representational politics as "quite demanding," says it may cost anywhere from $5 -$10 million on campaigning from the time an election is announced to election date.

In bidding for seats, politicians say money has to be spent on organising the base of their constituency with the aim of bringing victory.

The JLP's Andrew Holness estimates that 30 per cent of an election budget is spent on election day, with the bulk of the money going towards the feeding and mobilising of workers. For his West Central St. Andrew constituency, Mr. Holness says it takes approximately $5 million to run a campaign for three months.

RESTRICTED SPENDING

Under the Representation of the People Act, candidates are prohibited from spending more than $3 million on electioneering between Nomination Day and Election Day.

If declarations by some of those who bid for parliamentary seats in the 2002 General Election are to be taken as gospel, representational politics may not be that expensive.

It cost Edmund Bartlett a mere $3, 000 to win his East Central St. James seat. For his campaign, Mr. Bartlett's declaration shows that he spent $1,000 on personal living expenses, $500 on petty expenses incurred by a worker, $500 on printing and $1,000 on advertisement.

PNP powerhouse Portia Simpson Miller's declaration shows that she spent $620,000 on her campaign, paying out $500,000 for T-Shirts and caps.

But while the figure for financing a campaign for a seat seems far below the $10 million mark highlighted, it is instructive to note that the declarations from candidates only include money spent between Nomination and Election Day, which is normally two to three weeks.

Persons eying parliamentary seats should be prepared to spend up to $10 million on campaigning to have a realistic chance of becoming a Member of Parliament.

Campaign expense items

Acquiring a constituency, staffing it and paying bills.

Community projects and funerals.

Sponsorship of youth, community and sports groups.

Paying party workers.

Advertising and promotional material.

Transportation and feeding of supporters.

- daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com