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PPP in favour of making public assets declared to Integrity Commission
General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, has said that the PPP supports making asset declarations to the Integrity Commission, open to the public.
During a press conference at his Church Street Office yesterday, Jagdeo made this revelation after being asked about his stance on the proposition made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo
The anti-corruption body had urged Government, during its recent Article IV Consultation in Guyana, to make the declarations public.
Jagdeo said that he had already indicated to the IMF team that the PPP supports that move, and that he had also indicated that the PPP has been advocating in Parliament for declarations made in the past 10 years to be public.
He expressed his disappointment that none of the issues the PPP raised with the mission on its recent Article IV consultation was reflected in its report. He said that the PPP has always supported reforms that would prevent the haemorrhaging of public revenue, and corruption in public expenditure.
Vice President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, had indicated his support for making the Commission a Constitutional agency, which would grant it independence. Asked about this yesterday, the Opposition Leader said that the PPP will always support any action that will increase transparency and encourage good governance.
In May last, the Opposition Leader, when questioned about making his declarations to Commission public, had rejected the idea on the ground that it would place too much unnecessary focus on him. He had said that Government officials should make theirs public too.
The Integrity Commission requires certain categories of public officials to declare their assets and liabilities by June 30 of each year.
The IMF noted that Government is also working to expand coverage of those people required to declare assets.
The body had commended the Government for re-establishing the Commission, noting that it has received submissions from over 50 percent of the people required to declare assets in the 2018-2019 cycle.
The anti-corruption body urged government, in addition to making declarations public, to develop the methodology used by the Integrity Commission to verify asset declarations, stating that that will improve governance, support investor confidence and promote growth.
The Commission is already developing a framework for verification of declarations across time and against other sources of information.
Government and IMF have found common ground that strengthening transparency and anti-corruption frameworks is a key priority.
To that end, the body warned that there are significant capacity weaknesses in the Commission, which severely impact its ability to ensure compliance with existing regulations, conduct investigations including for politically exposed persons (PEPs), and implement additional actions to further strengthen governance systems to address corruption vulnerabilities.
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