‘Don’t hold your breath!’
Integrity Commission chairman says he has nothing to apologise for
Published:Saturday | October 19, 2024 | 12:08 AMEdmond Campbell/Senior Staff Reporter
A statement by President of the Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson, calling on chairman of the Integrity Commission (IC), retired Justice Seymour Panton, to apologise for “disrespectful and contemptuous” remarks he made while addressing a parliamentary oversight committee earlier this week, was yesterday read into the records of the Upper House by Deputy Senate President Charles Sinclair.
Sinclair, who was the presiding officer in the absence of Tavares-Finson, said he was in full support of the call by the Senate president as he expressed his displeasure with Panton’s comments.
However, when asked by The Gleaner yesterday if he would tender an apology to members of the legislature, Panton quipped, “they are just joking when they are asking for an apology”.
Continuing, the IC chairman said, “There is nothing to apologise for, so nobody should hold their breath waiting for an apology”.
The former president of Jamaica’s Court of Appeal urged parliamentarians to place focus on matters that need their attention in the legislature.
Tavares-Finson had issued the statement earlier this week after Panton seemingly ruffled feathers when he chided some parliamentarians for their attacks on officials of the Integrity Commission.
Both Tavares-Finson and his deputy were apparently incensed by Panton’s assertion that the quality of water that is consumed by parliamentarians in the House appears to have a particular effect on them.
“I don’t know if something is wrong with the water in Parliament why some people, the moment they get into Parliament, they say certain things and behave a certain way. I don’t know if that is it. As a result, I wasn’t going to take the chance of drinking water here,” said Panton, as he exhibited a bottle of water he carried with him during a meeting of the Integrity Commission Oversight Committee (ICOC) on Tuesday.
‘RUDE, OFFENSIVE AND OUT OF ORDER’
Another remark that seemingly disturbed Tavares-Finson and Sinclair was the signalling by Panton that he would reach out to Government Senator Dr Saphire Longmore, a consultant psychiatrist, for her to have words with some members of the House.
Describing Panton’s remarks as “rude, offensive and out of order”, Sinclair said the IC chairman was questioning whether the water consumed by parliamentarians in Gordon House was contaminated, and further recommended psychiatric evaluation of lawmakers.
The deputy senate president also referenced Tavares-Finson’s exasperation with what he suggested was Panton’s inference that “reports and or information from the Integrity Commission might have leaked into the public domain via the Parliament of Jamaica”.
“I believe that the comments that were made impugns the integrity, not only of the leaders of the Senate and the Lower House, but also the clerk and the officers of the Parliament,” said Sinclair.
Panton had said at the ICOC meeting that, shortly after the latest annual report left the offices of the IC in June, there was public broadcast on the contents of the document.
He said two subsequent reports sent to Parliament were also leaked after the documents were delivered to Gordon House.
The IC chairman said: “If it is thought that anyone in the commission is leaking these reports, we would like it brought to our attention, we would like it investigated, because anybody in the commission who leaks, if it is an employee, instant dismissal”.
“But,” Panton added, “I find it strange that all these things would be leaked immediately after it leaves the commission and sent to Parliament. I find it puzzling to understand that, if it is happening from the commission, why is it that the leak is delayed until it is sent away from the office?”
Tavares-Finson said, “Justice Panton should introspect and offer a suitably worded apology to the Parliament for his disrespectful and contemptuous comments.”
Opposition Senator Lambert Brown yesterday recommended that the leadership of Parliament should seek an audience with the Integrity Commission and address the issue.
He also took note that Sinclair gave full backing to the Senate president’s statement and immediately signalled that it was not up for debate.