Things may get uncomfortable for Finance Minister Karen Tesheira as the extent of her deposits, investments and shareholding in CL Financial and its subsidiaries are revealed. Her shares in CL Financial were worth $11.7 million. She closed two US-dollar accounts with Clico Investment Bank on December 31, 2008, before the maturity date. The minister now faces the task of explaining why she told the nation she didn’t “break” her fixed deposits before the crisis worsened.
Documentary evidence shows that she did indeed “break” these deposits and paid a “break rate” of 3.5 per cent. In Parliament, she indicated that the account had in fact matured, seeking to give the impression that she did not take pre-emptive measures to secure her personal funds before news broke about Clico’s apparent insolvency.
Worst yet, she failed to mention that she had shares in CL Financial. The plot thickens when one considers the Guardian report that Ms Tesheira made a partial declaration of her investment of 10,410 shares in CL Financial to the Integrity Commission in 2006, but not in 2007. PM Manning’s flippant response at last week’s Cabinet retreat that almost half of his Cabinet had some form of investment with Clico does not bode well. It signals that he intends to defend his Minister of Finance no matter what the facts are.
Private interests
With no new Integrity Commission despite the lapse of over one month, the stage is set for the weight of public opinion to force the hand of the PM into doing the right thing by firing his minister. The Code of Conduct in the Integrity in Public Life Act prohibits the use of public office for the improper advancement of one’s family or personal benefit or indirect private gain (section 24). Section 25 deals with insider information and prohibits the use of information gained in the execution of one’s office that is not available to the general public for personal benefit. It would seem that the minister breached the code of conduct in several respects.
Section 29 of the Integrity in Public Life Act states that a conflict of interest arises when:
“29. (1) For the purposes of this Act, a conflict of interest is deemed to arise if a person in public life or any person exercising a public function were to make or participate in the making of a decision in the execution of his office and at the same time knows or ought reasonably to have known, that in the making of the decision, there is an opportunity either directly or indirectly to further his private interests or that of a member of his family or of any other person. “(2) Where there is a possible or perceived conflict of interest, a person to whom this Part applies, shall disclose his interest in accordance with prescribed procedures and disqualify himself from any decision-making process."
Fill promptly
All of this highlights the need for a new Integrity Commission and the unreasonable delay in appointing one. This matter requires urgent and immediate investigation by the Commission to determine whether any offences were committed and restore public confidence in the critical Finance ministry.
At present, we have no Integrity Commission and no permanent Commissioner of Police, Solicitor General, Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority and DPP. The Government has a free hand and the failure to fill these offices has created a constitutional crisis. This fiasco with Ms Tesheira has underscored the need for these independent offices that are checks and balances in the system to be filled promptly. The track record of the Integrity Commissions of the past isn’t something we should be proud of. It dragged its feet and let many people off the hook. I hope the new commission will have the backbone of independence to understand that its very existence is prompted by the question “Who will guard the guards?”
By Anand Ramlogan 2009-03-15