Integrity Commision can't rule on Warner's position

The Integrity Commission (IC) in Trinidad and Tobago is not making any commitment on the status of Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner who also holds the post of Vice President of Fifa.

However it has noted that Cabinet ministers must divest their private interests.

In a media release the IC listed several sections of the Code of Conduct and the Code of Ethics for Parliamentarians, including Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries as approved by Resolution of the House of Representatives on 15 July, 1988.

That resolution reads: "This Code requires that Cabinet Ministers divest themselves of their private interests upon their assumption of public office".

The Commission said in its view, all persons in public life who offer themselves for Cabinet posts should "so organise their affairs in order that there be no breach of the aforementioned Code of Conduct or the Code of Ethics."

Commission chair Eric St Cyr told the Trinidad Express the IC does not have the authority to give a directive, noling that the media release was vauge because the Integrity in Public Life Act probhits the commission from giving a directive.

"All we were doing in the release was giving an opinion on a situation that was brought to our attention...We have no authority to give directives. We were written and asked to give an opinion and that is what we have done. It is not our authority to decide what the next step in the situation should be," he told the paper.

Opposition Leader Keith Rowley raised the issue and sought the IC's ruling in the matter shortly after he took his oath of office.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has asked Attorney General Anand Ramlogan to look into the issue to determine if there was the possibility of a conflict of interest.

Ramlogan told the Express he would answer questions on the matter on Friday. The Prime Minister told the paper she had not read the IC's statement and was unable to comment.

Warner has been a member of the FIFA executive committee since 1983 and is currently on Fifa business in South Africa.

In his letter to the IC, Rowley asked for "urgent guidance on a matter of grave public importance".

He said his understanding is that cabinet ministers "must arrange their private interests, whether pecuniary or otherwise, in such a manner to maintain public confidence and trust."

Rowley called on the commission to enquire from Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar about the status of Warner’s "continued directorship of CONCACAF and as special adviser to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF)."