President Bharrat Jagdeo will swear in three members of the Integrity Commission today.
According to Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, Fazeel Feroze, Savitri Sukhai and Reverend Nigel Hazel are to be sworn in at a ceremony at the Office of the President. However, he said the conclusion of the appointment of the entire commission would await further consultation between President Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin on a chairperson.
No new nominee has been identified to chair the commission since the government’s candidate, Professor James Rose, withdrew on the grounds that his employ in the government service prohibits him from holding the post.
Although the main opposition PNCR has maintained that “meaningful consultation” on the appointments has not concluded, Luncheon said the three members had been the subject of the statutory consultative process between Jagdeo and Corbin.
He also said he had given public notice of the government’s intention to proceed to the Opposition Leader, through the PNCR General Secretary Oscar Clarke and affirmed that the outstanding question of the chairperson ought not to prevent the swearing in of the other members.
Last week, the PNCR said if President Jagdeo proceeds to appoint the commission, it would not recognise it, explaining that the constitution has not been properly completed.
The party has accused the President of being hell-bent on appointing a commission without following the procedures laid down by the Constitution and the Integrity Act and it expressed doubts that a body that results from such a process would win the confidence and support of the Guyanese people.
At the start of the year, Jagdeo issued an ultimatum to MPs to submit their declarations of assets and liabilities to the Integrity Commission or face criminal charges. The opposition parties, however, criticised the constitutionality of the commission and called for it to be reconstituted. President Jagdeo subsequently announced that consultations would start towards resuscitating the commission.
