Opposition Leader Mark Golding has vowed to amend the law to expedite the release of reports from the Integrity Commission, IC, if his party forms the next government.
It’s a move he says is essential to counter the current administration’s attempts to withhold crucial information from the Jamaican public.
Speaking at the PNP’s 86th Annual Conference on Sunday, Mr. Golding declared that under a future PNP administration, all reports from the Commission would be made public within 24 hours of being submitted to Parliament.
Chevon Campbell tells us more.
The country is now on the verge of seeing one of the most significant investigation reports ever delivered by the Integrity Commission.
This report, concerning investigations into Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ statutory declarations, was submitted to Gordon House on Thursday, September 5.
That’s two weeks before Parliament was set to officially resume tomorrow, September 17.
Nationwide News has reported aspects of the report.
Addressing a packed National Arena on Sunday, Mr. Golding denounced the leak as unacceptable.
Currently, publicizing a report from the IC before it is tabled in Parliament is a violation of the Integrity Commission Act.
However, the changes Mr. Golding is proposing would diverge from the way that all statutory bodies handle their reports, which must be tabled in Parliament before being made public.
It remains unclear if he plans to apply this departure from legal precedent to all statutory bodies or only the Integrity Commission.
In addition, the Opposition Leader criticized Prime Minister Holness for failing to disclose the identities of the eight parliamentarians under investigation for illicit enrichment.
Mr. Golding also told his supporters that a future PNP government would address the issue of crime through court-supervised, targeted detentions of individuals reasonably suspected of committing violent crimes.
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