Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) Professor Errol Miller says the body has placed the issue of campaign financing at the top of its agenda for 2008.

He said the commission, which has responsibility for electoral reform, would be pursuing several other critical matters, including a review of constituency boundaries, the entrenchment of the commission in the Constitution, and increasing the number of constituencies to 65.

Professor Miller told The Gleaner yesterday that the commission would have dialogue with Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller to set an agenda for talks on improving the electoral process.

Financing debate

In the run-up to the general election last year, many political analysts, the public and, to a lesser extent, politicians, debated the issue of campaigning financing.

The $31 million donation by Dutch oil trader Trafigura Beheer, to an account controlled by People's National Party (PNP) officials, including its former general secretary, Colin Campbell the campaign-financing debate.

"The clear understanding is that campaign financing will be the number-one issue and we will try and complete this in the shortest possible time," Professor Miller said.

The two major political parties spent significant sums last year to fund their campaign activities for the general election.

Unconfirmed reports say that hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by the PNP and the Jamaica Labour Party. These sums were reportedly donated by a number of companies and individuals.