Political commentator Dr. Paul Ashley - file photo
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Dr. Paul Ashley
Political commentator Dr. Paul Ashley says Opposition Leader Dr. Peter Phillips' move to have his statutory declarations published will put pressure on Prime Minister Andrew Holness to do the same.
Speaking in St. Thomas Sunday evening, Dr. Phillips said he would ask the Integrity Commission to release the summary of his declarations.
But Dr. Ashley has suggested that the reports should have already been published because "both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are required by law to have summaries of their declarations published by the Integrity Commission."
Dr. Ashley added that the publishing of these reports should apply to all members of parliament.
He wants completed and satisfactory integrity reports to be a prerequisite for running in general elections. In this regard, "an individual who has not submitted on time his integrity report or has some issues under investigation, should not be fit and proper to contest a general election," he argued.
There has been heightened public interest in the matter since the Integrity Commission recently tabled its report indicating that the statutory filings of the Prime Minister and four other parliamentarians were examined but not cleared.
Last week, Dr. Horace Chang, General Secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party, said further enquiries would be made to get an update on statutory declarations filed by the Prime Minister.
He said this was based on the possibility that more questions may have been asked about the declarations already filed.
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