By Warren Bertram
There is a push by some parliamentarians for a drastic reduction of the powers of the Integrity Commission.
Everald Warmington, Member of Parliament for South West St. Catherine, made a submission to the Joint Select Committee reviewing the Integrity Commission Act 2017 for the powers of the Commission to be restricted.
Mr. Warmington called for several amendments to the Integrity Commission Act, including changes that would allow for the Executive Director or a commissioner to be impeached by provisions in the Houses of Parliament.
The law outlines that the decision to terminate a commissioner or the Executive Director rests with the Commission and the Governor General.
But Mr. Warmington suggested this power should reside with Parliament, where "the Governor General acting up upon a vote of impeachment of not less than two third majority of both Houses of Parliament shall remove from office the Executive Director, any other director and all commissioners, or any of them on the ground of misconduct in public offices".
Mr. Warmington highlighted the Integrity Commission's recent handling of the conflict of interest probe involving Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the ruling by the Director of Corruption Prosecutions that no charges should be laid against the Prime Minister.
He said the actions of the Executive Director of the Integrity Commission, Greg Christie, in that instance were misleading, going further to suggest Mr. Christie "dishonestly retweeted quotes that were out there and he knew that they were incorrect".
Mr. Warmington believes Mr. Christie, by his actions, brought the office into disrepute and should not remain in the post of Executive Director.
The South West St. Catherine MP also called for the prosecutorial powers to be removed from the Integrity Commission.
He said criminal prosecution for acts of corruption should be the responsibility of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and not a Commission of Parliament, as this is inconsistent with the democratic form of constitutional government.
"...The Commission is subject to the Standing Orders, the rules governing the conduct of parliamentary business. It would have the effect of Parliament setting up its own investigating arm which proceeds to criminally prosecute a special category of persons. This is inconsistent with our constitutional arrangement where crimes are investigated by one arm of the state, the police, and prosecuted by another, the DPP," he explained.
Opposition member of the Joint Select Committee, Senator Peter Bunting, expressed support for some of the criticisms levelled against the Integrity Commission by Mr. Warmington.
Mr. Bunting said, from his own experience, there tends to be some sensationalism on the part of the commission in its reports.
"They criticised me as then minister [in 2012]... about two appeals that I reviewed and granted the licences. And I am open to criticism. I'm fine. People can criticise you just like anyone else, but to deliberately omit from their report the fact that I was acting in accordance with the recommendation of the Firearm Review Board set up in the law to advise the minister... that is dishonest and unprofessional," he asserted.
In referencing the recent Integrity Commission's report involving the Prime Minster, committee member and Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said the issue affected the country's image.
"And that is the problem, chairman, that reports like what Member Bunting spoke about and what came out against the Prime Minister [are] expanding and escalating the perception of corruption, which is not good for us," he insisted.