The report of the Constitutional Review Commission, which was released last week has placed the Christie Administration in a political quandary, a senior opposition politician claimed at the weekend.
According to Montagu MP and deputy leader of the FNM Brent Symonette, the Commission’s inclusion of recommendations for change to the constitutional provisions relating to citizenship and the judiciary, along with other similar provisions which were put to the public in the 2002 referendum, have placed the governing PLP in an awkward position.
“There are a number of issues in the Constitutional Commission’s report that reflect issues that were raised in the referendum in 2002 which was a referendum Mr. Christie and his (colleagues) voted for in the House of Assembly, subsequently decided to change their minds on for political reasons and are now in a dilemma over whether or not to support similar provisions as a result of the Constitutional Commission’s report,” he said in an interview with the Bahama Journal.
“The (Integrity in Public Life Act) is something Mr. Christie has been promising along with the Code of Ethics, but there has been no proposed legislation and they have failed to bring it in, so I think (Mr. Christie) is in a very big dilemma because there is probably a number [of people] on his side [who] could not match the provisions of that requirement,” Mr. Symonette added, in reference to another recommendation of the Commission.
In its preliminary report, the Commission suggested that an Integrity Commission be established under an Integrity in Public Life Act.
That commission, the report recommended, would serve as a “watchdog committee” over the affairs of senior civil servants and persons involved in politics.
“It is recommended that this Integrity Commission, in addition to some of the provisions from the Public Disclosure Act, shall provide that Members of Parliament and senior public officers disclose all business interests, investments and shares in companies held by them in which they are beneficial owners,” the Commission’s report stated.
Mr. Symonette pointed out that the recommendation for legislation, which would provide guidelines for persons in public life was not a new suggestion, as the Christie Administration pledged in the Speech from the Throne in 2002 to introduce an Integrity in Public Life Act to govern all parliamentarians, heads of government boards, and senior civil servants.
“This legislation will be designed to induce higher levels of accountability and transparency so as to discourage corruption and ethical impropriety in public life,” the Speech said.
“If (Mr. Christie) is strongly of the view that we should have that legislation then he should bring it so that we can debate it and put it into law so that we could have it before the legislature dissolves for the next election,” said Mr. Symonette.
But the 2006 Speech from the Throne, read last month, made no mention of an Integrity in Public Life Act.
When asked whether he thought government would introduce integrity in public life legislation before the upcoming election, the Montagu MP said only, “they have proved that they can’t take concrete steps for nearly four years so there’s nothing to show that they have changed their ability and will be able to do it within the next few months.”
Mr. Symonette said, however, that he could not indicate if the FNM would take steps to introduce such legislation in response to the Constitutional Review Commission’s recommendation if re-elected because his party had not yet fully reviewed the report.
By: Darrin Culmer, The Bahama Journal
