The Roundtable Group has joined the chorus of voices calling on President Anthony Carmona to immediately revoke the appointment of the Integrity Commission chairman, retired justice Zainool Hosein, and the remaining members of the commission.
Yesterday, the Roundtable, whose convenor is Movement for Social Justice leader David Abdulah, demanded the dismissal of the commission as it said the IC’s “credibility and integrity are completely compromised.”
The Roundtable, in a release yesterday, said it met on Friday at Ambassador Hotel, Port-of-Spain, to discuss “yet another recent crisis of governance facing the country—The collapse of an important independent institution, the Integrity Commission.”
The collapse of the IC, the Roundtable said, came just days after the Prime Minister attempted to vindicate herself.
The Roundtable also noted with concern that the deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Joan Honore-Paul was “constrained” to issue a statement making it clear that the Emailgate investigations were still ongoing and that no one was cleared.
“The country then witnessed an avalanche of attacks upon the independent office of the DPP by senior officials of the Government including the Attorney General,” it added.
The Roundtable said a statement by former deputy IC chairman Sebastian Ventour that the IC closing the Emailgate investigation was “totally incorrect” and misled the public “is a very serious indictment upon the Government and an example of the complete collapse of one of the country’s most important independent institutions and a key pillar in our democracy.”