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Portia really teck Jamaican people fi popishow
Intergrity, PNP? Portia??
Its like reading an article headlined "Satan unveils a Honesty Commission"
or "Puss unveils a Swimming Commission"
"<span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="text-decoration: underline">PNP</span> unveils<span style="text-decoration: underline"> Integrity</span> Commission</span>
BY ERICA VIRTUE Observer writer [email protected]
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
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THE People's National Party (PNP) yesterday unveiled its five-member Integrity Commission and announced that all its members of parliament and prospective candidates will be assessed by it to determine if they are fit and proper persons to represent the Opposition party.
PNP President Portia Simpson Miller, in her address to the gathering at the Alhambra Inn Hotel in Kingston, said the region's oldest political party was actively confronting issues affecting the movement, and was taking definitive steps to solve them in the interest of the people it serves.
People's National Party president Porti Simpson Miller (3rd left) with members of the party's Integrity Commission who were introduced to the public yesterday. From left are attorney-at-law Frederick Hamaty, retired permanent secretary Cedric McCulloch, chairman Bishop Wellesley Blair, actuary Daisy Coke, and former Jamaica High Commissioner to London Burchell Whiteman. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)
<span style="font-style: italic">[People's National Party president Porti Simpson Miller (3rd left) with members of the party's Integrity Commission who were introduced to the public yesterday. From left are attorney-at-law Frederick Hamaty, retired permanent secretary Cedric McCulloch, chairman Bishop Wellesley Blair, actuary Daisy Coke, and former Jamaica High Commissioner to London Burchell Whiteman. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)]</span>
"The formation of an integrity commission is a critical element of the changes being made within the PNP. I assure you, this is neither a publicity stunt nor is it a baseless activity," Simpson Miller said. "The qualities of the commissioners who have agreed to serve on the Integrity Commission attest to that."
She said the decision required courage and resolve, because it is often easier to do things the comfortable way. But, she added, "this party knows that change will require that hard and sometimes unpopular decisions be taken. This party is determined to break out of the mould of 'no better herring, no better barrel'".
The independent members of the commission are chairman Bishop Wellesley Blair, actuary Daisy Coke, and former chair of the Public Services Commission and retired permanent secretary Cedric McCulloch. The political members are attorney-at-law Frederick Hamaty, and former Jamaica High Commissioner to London Burchell Whiteman, who is also a former government minister and senator.
Simpson Miller said the commission will not only focus on the people who offer themselves as representatives, but will assist in sifting out individuals sullied in the public domain from being selected for public office.
"It will also address the systems within the party which need to be honed, fixed, tweaked and where necessary overhauled. These transformational processes will be implemented to ensure that the People's National Party provides quality leadership and governance for the people of Jamaica," she said.
Dogged by the perception of corruption during its unbroken 18-year rule in Government starting in 1989, and opinion polls that have suggested that the party is not overly popular with the public despite the missteps of the current administration, the PNP has taken steps to act on the findings of a post-2007 general election analysis done by Professor Brian Meeks.
Among the concerns raised by comrades in the report was the view that too many individuals associated directly or indirectly with the party had become tainted in public life.
Yesterday, commission chairman Blair, brother of Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair, said if ever there was a time for integrity amongst the country's leader, the time was now.
"It is therefore of great importance that there is a clear understanding of the word integrity," he said. "The word can therefore be defined as that holistic concept that embodies transparency, honesty, probity, trustworthiness, values, attitudes, actions, methods, expectations and outcomes of a people operating within a particular system; especially those in leadership positions. Integrity, therefore, quite simply put, can be understood to be synonymous with trust. Both are essential for governance."
Stating that "no one should be above and beyond scrutiny", Blair said the commission was an independent body that would play an "advisory role to guide the party's leadership in making decisions, and establishing principles that can improve both the internal operations of the party and their approaches to governance".
Aspirants in the recently concluded selection process in North East St Elizabeth were all scrutinised by the commission, which will also be charged with developing a code of ethics of the party to replace the one currently in effect.
While the commission is charged with investigating and recommending, it will not be the final arbiter in deciding who is selected. Whiteman, who chaired the proceedings, said structures will be employed to deal with the public display of crude behaviour as was unveiled in the lead-up to the North East St Elizabeth contest."
