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Briceno Says Nothing Will Come Of Senate Cmte With Current Lineup
posted (October 7, 2016)

We do know that the Chamber is meeting next week Wednesday for a Special General Meeting and Business Mixer at the Radisson. The stated purpose for the meeting is to determine “what if any actionâ€￾ should be taken regarding the Motion and Terms of Reference passed in the Senate for the Special Select Committee, and whether or not the business Senator should participate in the Inquiry.

The chamber was not satisfied with the motion’s composition or terms of reference.  So now they want to send a motion back to the senate, or impose a one-day business shutdown if the motion is unsuccessful. 

The first resolution states that if their motion with a different composition is not approved by the senate, they will activate a national business shutdown

And resolution number two, is whether to impose a one day shutdown, quote,  “unless the Prime Minister signs the commencement order for the 13th Senator immediately, appoints and activates the Integrity Commission without further delay, and makes immediate commitment to have legislation to reconstitute the Public Accounts Committee…prepared within the next two weeks for passage into law within one month.â€￾

That’s very commanding, very impatient talk and it dovetails with what the opposition is saying about the Senate Select committee.  Here’s how PUP Leader John Briceno put it yesterday:.

Hon. John Briceno - Leader of the Opposition
"It is a sham, nothing is going to happen. One of the social partners have betrayed the social partners and we know that when the time, at the right time it is critical to the government that social partner will not vote with the rest of the social partners, he will be voting with the government. So there is going to be a split, a 50/50 and nothing is going to happen. It is a sham, it is disgraceful and I am calling on the government that we need to go back to the senate and put another motion to have an open and fair and transparent senate select committee."

We note that “nothing came out ofâ€￾ the previous and only Senate probe which found that Briceno’s ally Narda Garcia should no longer hold office at Social Security because of her involvement in the securitization programme.  The courts determined that the Select Committee in that 2006 probe failed to give her natural justice.

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