Friday, May 20, 2011

UNC Chairman calls for resignation of Integrity Commission chairman

Jack Warner on Thursday called for the immediate resignation of Eric St. Cyr as chairman of the Integrity for what Warner called "thoughtless and reckless" comments made without any consideration to the office he holds.

In a media statement in his role as chairman of the United National Congress Warner said St Cyr "prejudiced himself without availing himself of the details of a matter that may or may not be the subject of an investigation by the Integrity Commission."

Warner was referring to comments reported in Thursday's Express newspaper in which the head of the Integrity Commission said that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar should have stayed in a hotel instead of a private residence shortly after winning the 2010 general election.

The opposition is claiming that she breached the Integrity laws by accepting a gift from the owners of the home where she stayed and not declaring the gift.

In a scathing attack on St Cyr, Warner said, "Having confessed that his findings are without merit because “we haven’t investigated or gone into the details” the Chairman, whose actions resembles a man of unlimited vision and foresight offers an opinion which clearly can only be described as a colossal lapse in judgment."

The Works and Transport Minister pointed out that it was not the first time St Cyr has made errors in judgment "to articulate on matters over which he has neither the competence nor the intelligence to properly analyze and again it will not be the first time that he is wrong."

In June last year St. Cyr concluded that Warner should choose between his Cabinet position and his longstanding office as a FIFA Vice-President. Warner said

"it was not long after that eminent jurists across the Caribbean offered opinions that highlighted the folly of Dr. St. Cyr’s statements."

He added, "Without learning from his past mistakes again the good Dr. St. Cyr opens his mouth to offer opinions which again will be debunked by the higher intelligentsia of the wider community.

"But the issue is even graver than a matter of being right or wrong. Suppose this matter is referred to the Integrity Commission, the Chairman must now recuse himself from all deliberations because he has publicly articulated a position that shows a bias against the Honourable Prime Minister."

Warner said the question that the nation must asked is of what value is Dr. St. Cyr to the Integrity Commission "if he continually offers opinions that are not based on information, investigation or facts?

"Of what value is Dr. St. Cyr to the Integrity Commission if his own indiscretions force him to withdraw himself from participating in discussions to ensure that the moral integrity of our nation state is maintained?

"The very act alone of prematurely offering opinions on matters without a thorough analysis of the facts makes him unfit to hold any office related to the Integrity Commission far more the position of Chairman," Warner stated.

The UNC chairman said anyone holding such such a position ought to be "of sound moral principle and character; completely honest and upright in passing judgment and offers opinions that are unbiased and lacks any masking of ill intent."

He noted that this is the second time that Dr. St. Cyr has spoken prematurely, adding that it is certainly not a matter of coincidence that his responses appear to give credibility to the Leader of Opposition, Keith Rowley.

"Justice must not only be done; it must seem to be done. In this regard the bias shown by Dr. St. Cyr makes him unfit for the office he holds and for this I humbly demand his immediate resignation from such a sensitive position

"This country needs a person we can trust as the Chairman of our Integrity Commission," Warner said.

No comments:

Jai & Sero

Jai & Sero

Our family at home in Toronto 2008

Our family at home in Toronto 2008
Amit, Heather, Fuzz, Aj, Jiv, Shiva, Rampa, Sero, Jai