Ahead of the 45th anniversary of the nation’s independence, sitting Union Senator Glenfield Dennison has issued a urgent call for sweeping campaign finance reform, arguing that deep ties between elected officials and their campaign donors have effectively replaced popular sovereignty with rule by wealthy financial backers.
Dennison stressed that campaign finance legislation is not just a procedural tweak for the political system, but a foundational step to restore accountability to public office. Without cutting the financial ties that bind elected representatives to their major donors, he argues, politicians can never truly prioritize the needs and interests of the general public they were elected to serve. While multiple draft bills targeting campaign finance regulation have been introduced in the legislature over recent years, none have moved past the early stages of the legislative process for a full vote or implementation.
In a blunt address delivered during an evening television broadcast, Dennison drew a stark connection between unregulated campaign finance and the erosion of national independence. “There is a very important saying, if we messed up our independence, our colonizers will come back in the form of investors,” he told viewers. “We are forty-five years old as a nation. We have messed up on this thing called independence and the evidence of that is that we are now being governed by people calling themselves investors. I won’t call any names, but the reason those people can run our country is because they control the campaign finance, because when the election is over and you see them go to the Governor General House to swear in, it is not them running the country you know, it is the people who finance their campaign to get them there. Let we be real.”
Dennison’s rebuke also highlights unfulfilled campaign promises from the current administration. Back in 2020, the Briceño administration ran for office on a explicit platform pledge to pass comprehensive campaign finance reform. More than five years later, that promise has yet to be turned into concrete policy.
This report is a transcribed excerpt from a primetime television news broadcast, with Kriol-language phrases transcribed using a standardized spelling system for publication.