Letter of the Day | Signs of an unjust state
Published:Saturday | August 5, 2023 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
It was reported that six parliamentarians were under investigation by the Integrity Commission for illicit enrichment. We also learnt that seven parliamentarians are being probed for providing false information under Section 43(2)(a) of the Integrity Commission Act, 2017 and Section 16(2)(b) of the Corruption Prevention Act, 2001, in relation to their statutory declarations.
Most shocking about the above revelation is that “The commission did not name the lawmakers as its law blocks publication of details of an investigation until a report is tabled in the Parliament. It also did not indicate whether they are from the Senate or House of Representatives.” ( Jamaica Observer, July 11).
We had witnessed earlier that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, had taken action to reverse “parliamentary practice” by holding three reports from Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis for two months before tabling the documents. ( The Gleaner, July 5).
In short, our power-hungry lawmakers, afflicted with egos of grandeur, have banded together to hide from the people of Jamaica both allegations and information on corrupt actions by their fellow elected or appointed representatives. The laws that gag the Integrity Commission’s work and the actions of our elected lawmakers are a manifestation of an unjust society.
In the United Kingdom, the House of Commons Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has similar roles and responsibilities to the Integrity Commission, and is responsible for how the House of Commons handles similar alleged corrupt practices by MPs.
In response to an enquiry made on July 28, the House of Commons Enquiry Service states that: “The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards publishes on his website the names of MPs currently subject to investigation, alongside brief details of the paragraph(s) of the Code of Conduct it is alleged an MP has breached.”
In the debate surrounding the removal of the monarchy, and to move away from a Westminster parliamentary system, we failed to imitate the principles of integrity and justice. In particular, distributive justice that refers to the extent to which society’s institutions ensure that benefits and burdens are distributed among society’s members in ways that are fair and just. When the institutions of a society distribute benefits or burdens in unjust ways, there is a strong presumption that those institutions should be changed. For example, the preferential treatment of withholding from the people the names of parliamentarians whose alleged actions are indecorous to the nation, points to the death of such an institution.
As we seek to move to republican status, we can just imagine how these cover-ups of corruption will be normalised in the new Constitution, creating an unjust State.
DUDLY MCLEAN II
Mandeville, Manchester