The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) Tuesday renewed its call for the dismissal of the embattled Minister of Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr Andrew Wheatley, who is the subject of charges contained in a report from the Integrity Commission (IC).
PNP and Opposition Leader, Mark Golding, said that Wheatley’s continued presence in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Andrew Holness a week and a half after the IC reported to Parliament is disconcerting. ‘He’s to be charged with serious offences of corruption in our system of governance. The standard procedure in such a situation is for that minister to step back, to either be forced to resign or to voluntarily resign from the cabinet until that matter is resolved or those issues are finally resolved,’ Golding said as he participated in a protest march on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Wheatley vowed to clear his name as he faces charges stemming from the IC report into his financial affairs. The anti-corruption body recommended that Wheatley face four charges, including illicit enrichment.
The recommendation was revealed after the Integrity Commission’s report was tabled in the House of Representatives. Wheatley, is the first of eight parliamentarians being investigated by the Commission for possible illicit enrichment, to have a report tabled.
Golding said that it is also disturbing for Prime Minister Holness to ‘say that he has continued confidence in Mr Wheatley in these circumstances reflects extremely badly on him and his judgement because he claims he was not aware when he appointed Mr Wheatley for the second time to the cabinet that the Integrity Commission was investigating him.
‘That, if true, indicates a basis for removing him immediately anyway, because that ought to have been made clear at the time rather than take the prime minister by surprise if indeed it really did.’
But Golding, an attorney, said the country is also aware that Prime Minister Holness has his own Integrity Commission issues ‘which are unresolved and no doubt he’s afraid of whatever precedent it may set for Mr Wheatley to be asked to step back from the cabinet because the issues also affect Mr Holness’s own status there.
‘But Jamaican people deserve better. We deserve a government that we can trust, a government that abides by established norms of good governance and that is why I’m here supporting the civil society demonstration because I see our interests as essentially being aligned around these issues,’ Golding said.