T&T Opposition says McFarlane can't sit on Integrity Commission

Opposition leader Basdeo Panday and Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar are continue their campaign for integrity in public life and have taken issue with the appointment of National Insurance Board(NIB) executive director Jeffrey McFarlane deputy chairman of the Integrity Commission.

Persad-Bissessar is saying the president was wrong to appoint McFarlane and is arguing further that he cannot even be an ordinary member of the commission. And she told the Trinidad Express Sunday she is writing to the president about it.

President Richards is on vacation and won't be back on the job for about a month. Senate President Danny Montano is acting until Richards returns.

Persad-Bissessar's contention is that McFarlane's appointment is a breach of the Integrity in Public Life Act," which states in Section 4 (5):

"A person shall not be qualified to hold office as a member of the Commission where he is a person in public life or a person exercising a public function or a person who is not a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago".

The act defines "a person in public life a person" as "Members of boards of all Statutory bodies and State enterprises, including those bodies in which the State has a controlling interest".

That would clearly disqualify McFarlane who sits on the boards of the National Insurance Board, the National Insurance Property Development Company Ltd and the Home Mortgage Bank.

McFarlane's appointment as deputy chairman triggered another controversy. On Friday, President Richards reneged on his offer to retired Justice Zainool Hosein to be deputy chairman. When the Hosein learned about it he resigned from the commission, saying the president's action amounted to an insult.

McFarlane confirmed to the Express that the first time he knew he was being appointed deputy chairman was when he was given the oath of office to read.

Persad-Bissessar told the paper that matter "raises very serious questions as to whether there has been interference in that appointment."

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday also has questions about the matter and is contending that President Richards must explain why he broke his word to Hosein.

"If what Justice Hosein said is true the President owes the country an apology." However he said he regrets that Hosein resigned over the issue, adding that "if we are consulted on a replacement we would be willing to submit a nominee."

The former chairman of the Public Service Commission and constitutional lawyer Kenneth Lalla told the Newsday newspaper the controversy over the new Integrity Commission “is one that smells and it is offensive”.

Commenting on McFarlane's appointment as deputy chairman, Lalla said, “That in itself is a question of integrity; it damages the whole structure of this process. You have a Head of State giving an undertaking to a retired Justice of Appeal and then reneging.”

He said, “Ultimately this is a question for determination by the President. Should he have appointed Mc Farlane in the first place? The appointee simply giving up the posts does not mean anything because the damage has already been done.”

The Commission plans to hold its first meeting Monday. Chairman Father Henry Charles has confirmed that there is a quorum for the meeting.

Related story: New Integrity Commission ready to work under cloud of controversy