Chairman of the Integrity Commission (IC) Oversight Committee Edmund Bartlett has sought to defend the Government’s rejection of a motion tabled in Parliament by Opposition Member of Parliament Julian Robinson.

Robinson rose during the IC Oversight Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, to support the recommendation of the Integrity Commission to refer the investigation into Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s statutory declarations to the Financial Investigations Division.

However, according to Bartlett, the motion was rejected by Government members who argued that it amounted to an abuse of process, was improperly brought, and was redundant.

“It is a matter of public record that the Financial Investigation Division (FID) has indicated that it is in possession of a referral and related documents from the [Integrity] Commission,” Bartlett stated in a release.

“Therefore, the motion advanced by Member Robinson proposed to seek to achieve that which has already transpired,” he continued.

On this note, the IC Oversight Committee chairman urged committee members to desist from abusing the processes of Parliament in an apparent bid to achieve partisan objectives.

Bartlett shared that the commissioners of the Integrity Commission have been invited to attend the next meeting of the committee on October 3, 2024, to provide clarity on the recommendations of the report.

“This is the normal procedure. Therefore, any motion which sought to pre-empt this process was not in good order,” the release concluded.