MPs agree to comply with Integrity Commission Act

By Michael Younge

The National Assembly last week approved a government-sponsored motion to have Members of Parliament (MP) comply with the Integrity Commission Act, but not before the opposition made a few amendments during the hours-long debate.
The motion was tabled by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds last Thursday while the amendments were made by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) MP Deborah Backer.
The Integrity Act was passed in 1997, but government was now seeking compliance through the National Assembly after it had accused opposition MPs of defaulting. Hinds in presenting his motion, argued that its intent is to bring members who are in default, in line, with the laws of the country.
He explained that the Integrity Act calls on MPs to be honest, above board and examples for the rest of public office holders, and by extension all Guyanese. He argued strongly that his move to garner compliance through the National Assembly is solely aimed at encouraging MPs to make their declarations in line with the laws and constitutional provisions.
“This move seeks to call on us to do what is right and to take positions that would require and encourage our members to confirm to the laws of the country,” he stated. Hinds said that for too long, “it has been said” that some members were flouting their responsibility with respect to declaring their assets and their returns to the commission.
He said that whether the commission was properly or improperly set up, the fact was that the laws were clear and required that all parliamentarians and holders of public offices “do the honourable thing”.
“This is not a draconian thing or request,” he noted, arguing that integrity, transparency and accountability should be the basic hallmarks of public life. His motion also noted that “the failure or refusal of Members of Parliament to submit declarations is a violation of the law and a gross indictment of those MPs and vicariously on the integrity of Parliament”.

Hinds wanted the conduct of an annual voluntary monitoring exercise of compliance to be undertaken after which the president would disclose to the Speaker annually the names of MPs in default.  He said that those who were involved would be sanctioned by the House and brought before the Committee of Privileges.
Backer expressed full support for any move to have members of the House declare their assets and financial returns to a lawful and duly constituted body. In her mind, this body was the Integrity Commission and not the President of the country, or the Speaker of Parliament. She argued strongly that the prime minister’s motion was flawed in principle as it sought to have members declare their assets and appropriations to a commission which was not properly constituted, and without any members.
Backer presented facts to the Parliament which vindicated her arguments, disclosing that the Integrity Commission was dissolved in May 2012. “Who is the honourable prime minister asking us to disclose our assets to”, she quizzed amidst a loud outburst from the opposition benches.
Backer urged Hinds to withdraw the motion he tabled or she will be forced to pursue her amendments which would correct the flaws in his submission to the Parliament.
“Our assets are so minimal that in 10 minutes we would have filled up our forms…  APNU is ready and steady and waiting for the go to submit our returns, income and assets to the commission,” she emphasised. Backer belaboured the point that the prime minister was moving to have the president break the laws by asking him through his submission to the Parliament to name and publish defaulters when he is only empowered to make public declarations about the commissioners.
Meanwhile, the Alliance For Change (AFC) has also endorsed the prime minister’s move to have public office holders declare their assets and returns to the commission. Moses Nagamootoo, who rose to speak on behalf of the party, explained that MPs in their corner could not support the prime minister’s submission without the amendments as proposed by the APNU.

“This is a stillborn motion”, he declared, explaining that the AFC wanted all those who were ‘double dipping and triple dipping from the public purse’  be brought to book and justice. Nagamootoo strongly believed that the move by government to bring the submission with respect to the Integrity Act was ill-conceived and aimed at creating a diversion from the current talks about corruption and accountability.
People’s Progressive Party/ Civic Chief Whip Gail Teixeira decried what she deemed “the politics that was being played out”, stating that she had hoped that the parties could have agreed in principle to support the motion either as, is or with mild amendments.
“I had thought that we could have agreed on one thing alone… good intentions sometimes fall flat in their face… the other thing that drove me to do this is, that it would have been a good signal to the society for us working together and setting a good precedent.”
Prime Minister Hinds rebutted the opposition’s arguments, contending that they are making a “mountain out of something quite small”, explaining that President Donald Ramotar was in the process of appointing a commission with new members within a week’s time.
He argued that the opposition’s vague argument lacked merit. “A lot of what the opposition members have been saying here is misguided and purposely misrepresented this motion,” he maintained.