Robert Miller, member of parliament (MP) for South East St Catherine, has received a parliamentary exemption from vacating his seat in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, as a result of Section 41 of the Constitution.

This section of the Constitution requires that a parliamentarian vacate his/her seat if the individual has benefitted from a contract from the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) or a company or firm associated with the individual has benefitted from a government contract.

However, such an individual may keep his/her seat if that individual gets an exemption from the Jamaican legislature, which has been done in the case of Miller.

The House of Representatives approved a report from its Ethics Committee, which probed a petition brought by Miller, the business development officer of Shoreline Foundation, which from time-to-time engages in contracts with the Government.

PETITION GRANTED

The Ethics Committee of Parliament met on March 21, at which time it examined the exemption petition and approved that it be granted.

The Ethics Committee is chaired by House Speaker Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert and has on its membership parliamentarians Tova Hamilton, Phillip Henriques, AnnMarie Vaz, Kerensia Morrison, Tamika Davis and Dr Morais Guy.

The Ethics Committee report recommending the exemption was only signed by Dalrymple-Philibert, Hamilton, Henriques and Morrison.