EDITORIAL - The Coke-Manatt commission must tread carefully

While we called for, and therefore welcome Prime Minister (PM) Bruce Golding's establishment of a commission of inquiry into the Christopher Coke-Manatt affair, we, too, are disappointed with the PM's approach to the matter.

We had hoped, as Mr Golding undertook to do, that he would have consulted with the Opposition, and perhaps the wider civil society on the composition of the commission and its terms of reference.

The point is that the Government's initial resis-tance to the extradition of Coke, a reputed drug dealer, to the United States and the prime minister's sanctioning of a firm to lobby the Americans on the matter shook national confidence in state governance and raised grave questions about Mr Golding's integrity.

Mr Golding, however, insists that much has been misrepresented and misinterpreted in the whole affair and some of his instructions were breached. In this regard, the prime minister is seeking some level of vindication and restoration of trust in his administration.

In these circumstances, it is important that there be trust and broad confidence in the commissioners and their work.

Integrity or competence

This newspaper, of course, raises no question about the integrity or competence of those chosen - Mr Emil George, Mr Anthony Irons and Mr David Scharchmidt, of whom not much is publicly known. Unfortunately, Mr Golding's approach did not allow for consensus on their appointments.

Hopefully, though, they will move quickly to establish rules of proceedings that are transparent, fair and conducive to arriving at the truth. It will be the first step to building confidence in their work.

Indeed, these commissioners should hold before them the fiasco that was the commission into the 1990s financial-sector collapse.

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