Integrity Commission chairman Dr Eric St Cyr has said he has not yet seen a letter from Works Minister Jack Warner calling for St Cyr's resignation.
The strongly worded letter from Warner, dated June 21, alleged that St Cyr "willfully ignored" legal opinion given to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan by four legal luminaries.
He alleged that St Cyr’s remarks in an interview in the Sunday express displayed bias and prejudice.
Warner's letter said, “In these circumstances I am requesting that you resign forthwith as Chairman of the Integrity Commission on ethical grounds, failing which I shall be left with no alternative but to seek redress elsewhere.”
Warner’s attorney, Om Lalla, said the Integrity Commission does not have the authority to act against Warner because no one has made a formal complaint against the minister.
He said in that context it was wrong for St Cyr to express any personal opinion on the issue of Warner's roles as a cabinet minister and Vice President of FIFA.
He observed that it is similar to a judge who gives an interview stating his views on the guilt or innocence of an accused person, before he hears the evidence of a case and before he delivers his verdict in court.
“An Integrity Commission member must be very careful about making statements or coming to conclusions without hearing all the facts of a matter or hearing representations from the individuals whom they are making statements about,” Lalla told the NEWSDAY newspaper.
Lalla explained that Warner has done nothing wrong and added that he would expect "St Cyr to recuse himself in any matter involving Warner". He said Warner is entitled to defend himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment