PNP condemns proposal to remove Auditor General as IC commissioner

 

People's National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding has condemned what he describes as the continued attempts by the Andrew Holness led administration to weaken and dismantle institutions established to probe corruption in government. 

 

He was responding to a decision by members of the Joint Select Committee reviewing the Integrity Commission Act to recommend that the Auditor General be removed as a commissioner of the Integrity Commission (IC). 

 

The move was not supported by opposition members of the committee. 

 

Mr. Golding argued that the attempt to remove the Auditor General as a commissioner from the IC represents yet another calculated step in a broader pattern of deliberate, strategic and dangerous assaults by the administration on Jamaica's anti-corruption architecture. He said the Auditor General has been a member of Jamaica's principal integrity oversight bodies since independence. 

 

The Opposition Leader added that the JLP's argument for the removal of the Auditor General from this critical role is spurious as there is no constitutional or other impediment to having the Integrity Commission audited by an independent professional audit firm - a well-established practice utilised by various public sector bodies. 

 

"This latest move must be seen in the context of a broader, deeply troubling pattern under the JLP government. Leading members of the government continuously attack the Integrity Commission. Everald Warmington, MP, has led a crusade of misinformation in an attempt to dismantle the Integrity Commission. Justice Minister Delroy Chuck provided misguided encouragement of parliamentarians not to submit statutory declarations, including the information for their spouses, which was a clear breach of their statutory duty under the act. The Prime Minister himself has gone as far as to file a lawsuit to challenge the Integrity Commission Act itself," Mr. Golding pointed out.  

 

Arguing that these are not isolated incidents, he suggested that the actions are part of an "unprecedented and dangerous trend that seeks to intimidate and discredit the very institutions tasked with promoting integrity in public life". 

 

"These are deliberate and coordinated actions by a government that has shown increasing hostility to scrutiny and accountability. What we are witnessing is a step towards tyranny, as institutions which are designed to protect the people from financial abuse of power are being stripped of their independence, weakened and politicised. The PNP will not allow this to continue," he stressed, adding that if the proposed move is carried through, the next PNP government will restore the Auditor General as a commissioner of the IC.