The existing statutory conditions for heads of statutory and constitutional commissions have posed some difficulty in a suitable candidate being found to become chairman of the Integrity Commission, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said.
Responding to a question yesterday about the selection of a chairman for the commission, Luncheon indicated that the matter had recently engaged the attention of President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin. According to Luncheon, “there does seem to be some fixation among putative nominees or the ones that we have identified, that the conditions… might not be significant enough… to cause them to be seriously interested.” He said Corbin had made this point in reference to the Integrity Commission appointment and with reference to the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission.
Recently, notices in the press indicated March 25 as the deadline for all public officers who are legally required to submit all outstanding declaration forms to the Integrity Commission to do so. If this is not done, the officials would face the possibility of legal action, the notice said.
The government and the opposition parties have been at loggerheads over the constitutionality of the body. Last April, the government withdrew a motion in the National Assembly that sought to have Members of Parliament (MPs) make annual declarations of income to the commission or face disciplinary action, after Speaker Ralph Ramkarran ruled that it could not be allowed because of a pending court matter.
When the motion first came up in the House last year, AFC Leader Raphael Trotman tried to ascertain from Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who was the chairman of the commission. The Prime Minister informed the House that there was no chairman since the resignation of Bishop Randolph George some years ago. He said though that the other three members of the Commission – Fazeel Ferouz, Savitri Sukhai and Nigel Hazel – have been meeting. The three commissioners had been sworn in by the President in 2009.
Following the resignation of Bishop George, Dr James Rose had been nominated by the government to be chairman but he subsequently withdrew his name after the opposition parties raised concerns.
