Legislators challenged to put into law mechanisms for disclosure of assets without court coercion

 

As accountable governance weighs heavy on the minds of the electorate, legislators are being challenged to put into law transparency mechanisms that ensure aspiring and elected parliamentarians publicly disclose their assets without being coerced through the courts. 

 

The suggestion from Executive Director of National Integrity Action Danielle Archer follows remarks by former Executive Director of the Integrity Commission Greg Christie, who argued in the IC's annual report, tabled in Parliament last week, that Jamaica cannot effectively fight the ever increasing sophistication of 21st century corruption and bribery with weakened anti-corruption policies. 

 

Mr. Christie said if Jamaica fails to act on this position, then it must be prepared to face the consequences of the devastating impact of unchecked corruption spreading across the society as it inevitably will. 

 

Ms. Archer, who agreed with Mr. Christie's position, also repeated the call for the Integrity Commission to be provided with greater support to fight corruption. She said her call for strong moral suasion to dictate the publishing of assets for politicians would not only insulate the Integrity Commission from political interference, but also allow the public to come to its own conclusion about officials based on what is presented. 

 

Ms. Archer also put forward other suggestions which she believes are necessary to tackle corruption and build public confidence in the IC's anti-corruption strategy. 

 

"Let those who are firing and those who are currently there disclose their statutory declarations, and this is not just for the leader. The second thing that we can do after we get that is to get an agreement that we're going to constitutionally protect the IC. Once they're constitutionally protected now, there cannot be any political interference unless they go the route now of doing something that can change the protection that they get from the Constitution.

 

"As a people, we now need to become active in this thing so that we can reform the appointment process. We can seek non-renewable terms. When we understand where you're going, where you're coming from, that we have nothing to hide, it builds public trust. Public trust then can determine whether or not the IC has been unreasonable or we need to vote for people who support the IC," she argued. 

 

Ms. Archer was a guest Wednesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106 FM.