Erasing the corruption stain

Over the weekend Gary Spaulding had an interesting article entitled Erasing the corruption stain in which he outlined the task that Burchell Whiteman and others have in trying to clean up the PNP's tarnished image.

I hail this thrust by the PNP for the reality of Jamaican politics is that its either they or the JLP that will form the government and the JLP having lost all moral authority, they recognise that the apple is within their grasp.

Apparently too, they seem to understand that in order not to be swept to power only by their tribalists and thus having to face a very rocky road to get support or consensus from the rest of us, they must give the thinking public a reason to trust them, hence this sudden interest in integrity and weeding out corruption.

However, if this new body is not to be only a face card, before they even do anything else, they must demand answers to the Trafigura affair and share those answers with the public. For in the same way that the public will not be appeased until all is told about Mannat, Phelps & Phillips , neither will they be until all the gory details about the underhand deal with Trafigura are told. For while it is well known that Trafigura gave the PNP $30 million and were given a contract that the then ruling party would do something for them, what we can't find out is exactly what was promised to them. Was it that they would be allowed to dump their toxic waste in Jamaica? Was it that the contract to pull Nigerian oil would be renewed without competitive tender? Or did it have something to do with the destruction of the cockpit country in an effort to find more bauxite?

These both international scandals in which the ruling parties which formed the government at the time have been involved have only reinforced in the eyes of the world, the perception that Jamaica is nothing but a corrupt banana republic.

Also, if this integrity body is to be credible, they must do a better job than previous bodies in selecting who will be allowed to represent the party in an election. For since the 2007 election, the police has been showing great interest in two of their candidates for involvement in gangs. What would have happened had these two candidates been elected to parliament6 to make laws to affect the rest of us? This matter simply cannot be swept under the table.

Then there is the issue of MP Sharon Hay Webster brazenly remaining in parliament while admitting to being a dual citizen, a direct breach of the constitution.

What is this integrity committee going to do about this grave breach and insult to the integrity of Parliament?

Unless this commission is really serious about dealing with such issues, it will turn out to be nothing but a face card and once again voters will be left with a choice between a corrupt black dog and a corrupt monkey.