Independent MP Pierre Dupuch is pushing for the government’s code of ethics to be given more teeth with a resolution that would require that the code governing the conduct of ministers be made into law.
When the House of Assembly meets for the first time for the New Year on Wednesday, Mr. Dupuch said that he plans to approach the government to get a commitment on when the resolution, which has been on the agenda for a “couple of months,” will be debated.
“It’s been there for some time, it hasn’t been debated yet, but the reason for it is that it is time that we start to get serious in the country and put teeth into the code of ethics. A lot of people think it’s wrong to set someone up, but if you can’t bribe me I don’t mind how many times you try.”
What Mr. Dupuch wants is for the code to be sent to the Attorney General’ Office, legislated and debated before the next general election.
The code, which Prime Minister Perry Christie presented to the nation shortly after coming to office in 2002, focuses primarily on ministers avoiding involvement in conflict of interest issues and using their position in government for personal gain.
Mr. Dupuch is particularly concerned about the complexity of proving charges of bribery in general.
“The only way to stop a cancer is to cut the spot out. The only way that you can be reasonably sure that the person is not taking a bribe is if you allow them to be basically set up,” said Mr. Dupuch. “The law says that if I bribe you and I talk about it, then you and I go to jail. What I am trying to do is [change it so that] if you accept a bribe and I talk about it, I don’t go to jail but you do.”
Mr. Dupuch said that he is not suggesting that ministers are guilty of bribery, but wants to ensure that if an issue does arise the code can be enforced.
He said that under the current arrangement, any given prime minister has too much power when it comes to governing the code of ethics.
Mr. Dupuch said that if the code was made into law, it would prevent a prime minister, generally speaking, from being put under “all sorts of pressure to let this go by or let that go by.”
“When you have a code of ethics, it means absolutely nothing unless it is made into law,” said Mr. Dupuch.
Both the House and the Senate are expected to meet on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Members of Parliament are expected to pay tribute to the late George Mackey, who served as a former Cabinet Minister and well-regarded MP for the St. Michael’s and Fox Hill constituencies.
Mr. Mackey, 67, died at Doctors Hospital on January 2 after a two-year battle with prostate cancer. His body will lie in state in the Foyer in the House of Assembly at 11am on Wednesday for public viewing.
His funeral will be held on Thursday, January 12, 10 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral.
By: Erica Wells, The Bahama Journal
