Panday says Manning wants to abolish Integrity Commission

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday has accused Prime Minister Patrick Manning of planing to abolish the Integrity Commission.

Panday was commenting on comments by Manning at a weekend rally of his People's National Movement (PNM) in Mayaro that his government is reviewing the procedures for the appointment of members to the commission.

“The Integrity Commission just is not working and the Government has to go back to the drawing board on the Integrity Commission,” Manning told supporters.

There has been no Integrity Commission since May when all members appointed by the president quit under a cloud of controversy involving at least three of them, including the chairman, Father Henry Charles.

President Max Richards has suggested the delay is because of the difficulty in getting people to serve.

Richards is under fire for the collapse of the commission and the opposition has piloted a motion for a tribunal to be set up to have Richards removed from office. The motion will likely fail because the opposition does not have the number of votes required to pass it.

Panday charged that the PNM government would be happier without the Integrity Commission "because they are afraid there would be too much investigation into their affairs."

But Tabaquite MP Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj sees it differently. He told Newsday the draft working document on constitutional reform would give the Prime Minister the authority to appoint members of the Integrity Commission.

The draft would also shift the operations of independent state institutions, such as the Judiciary, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Elections and Boundaries Commission to the prime minister.

"Manning would be both Prime Minister and President and he virtually will choose the Chief Justice, DPP and members of commissions," he said.

"He would be responsible for the hiring and firing of police officers, teachers and members of the Integrity Commission. He will be in total control of the State and the people will be surrendering all safeguards and checks and balances into one person that controls office."

Chairman of the TT Transparency Institute (TTTI) Victor Hart supports a review but only if it is done through widespread public consultation.

"Since 2003, we have been saying that there was need to review the operations of the Integrity Commission...Therefore, we agree with the Prime Minister that there is need to go back to the drawing board," Hart told the paper.

The Integrity Commission was established in 1998 under the then United National Congress administration.