The Progressive Liberal Party, having almost reached the three year mark in office face a potential crisis, as many citizens are questioning whether public confidence has been lost in its style of governance.
Shortly after taking over the government in 2002, Prime Minister Perry Christie came up with a “Code of Ethics” which was expected to govern the conduct of ministers and top public officials.
In introducing the code in 2002, the prime minister made the following observations:
“If public confidence in the integrity of the political directorate of The Bahamas is to become a hallmark of our political culture, it is of first importance that the Prime Minister and other Ministers of Government observe – and be seen to observe – the highest standards of probity in public life.”
The prime minister’s code stipulates that:
1. Ministerial work is full time and whether an individual is compensated or not for private work, they must resign from that job upon assuming office. If necessary, Ministers who need to attend to transitional matters must inform the prime minister right away. The only stipulations to Ministers dealing with transitional matters was that these matters did not take the Minister away from official duty and was completed expeditiously.
2. Upon appointment, Ministers must resign from any other public office to which previously appointed. Also, Ministers holding positions as Director and/or Officer of all private and public companies or associations are also required to resign. “The openly permissible expectations to the foregoing are personal or family holding companies that are not involved in any business, or trade and charitable, religious or non-profit organisations.
3. Ministers should carry out a complete review of personal holdings to ensure that there is no conflict of interest with the new appointment. If it appears that there could be a conflict of interest, he must divest himself of the relevant holdings as soon as reasonably practical unless he falls within any of the exceptions stated in any of the ensuing paragraphs.
4. A Minster who is self-employed or engaged in a business before his appointment is not necessarily required to dispose of his interest but he is required to immediately detach from the management of the company or business; partnership; have name removed from relevant documents to reflect inactive status; put a halt to receiving profits from the company, business or partnership except for an annual amount considered due to him in return for his previous investment.
5. Ministers with direct contractual links with the Government must terminate the agreements upon assuming office unless the agreement has been fully disclosed in accordance with the law and termination therefore, in the Prime Minister’s view would not be in public interest.
6. Upon assuming office, Ministers who are shareholders or other equity in companies that have contractual relationships with Government must divest themselves of said interest.
Such cases should be brought to attention of the Prime Minster, who, if satisfied that outright disposal is impractical, will generally advise the Minister to divest himself of his interest by transferring the same to a ‘blind trust.’
7. Ministers who hold significant shares in public companies may choose to divest themselves of such shares either by sale or by transfer to a blind trust. Both trust would be administered by a trustee not related to a Minister and should prohibit the Minster from exercising any power over governance of the trust during the period of his ministerial service.
8. While in office Ministers should make good judgments about investments so as not to create conflicts of interest. If Ministers use ‘insider information’ to make speculative investments or use advantageously for themselves, family members or associates before an imminent change in Government policy or revenue measures are made, these actions would be considered flagrant breaches of the Code of Ethics.
9. A Minister should readily remove himself from Cabinet meetings and the duration of discussions in which a subject matter may affect his private interest.
10. Where a Minister is called upon to exercise any power or discretion which could give rise to a conflict of interest, he should immediately inform the Prime minister and refrain from taking any action in the meantime.
11. Ministers should neither nominate nor support the nomination of an individual for any local or international award or honour without prior approval from the Prime Minister.
12. Ministers must avoid recommending their former firms or businesses to persons seeking the Government’s favour or continued favour.
13. Ministers should be careful to separate between ministerial status and their co-existing status as Members of Parliament status, particularly in relation to employment related references.
14. Ministers should not accept gifts that might be perceived to create an obligation to the contributor.
“Observation of this code of Ethics should therefore be understood to be absolutely essential to ministerial service with integrity,” Mr Christie said.
By JIMENITA SWAIN, Guardian Staff Reporter – jimenita@nasguard.com
