MPs who fail to disclose their business interests on time should be disciplined beyond naming and shaming, the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“It is obvious that several MPs don’t take their obligation to account seriously enough and have contravened the code of conduct,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“The PSAM calls upon the joint committee on ethics and members’ interests to recommend to Parliament that serious action (beyond a mere reprimand and publication of implicated MPs names) be taken, especially in instances where MPs have repeatedly failed to account on time.”<\/p>\n
Parliament’s ethics committee said on Wednesday that 59 MPs, including at least one Cabinet member, had missed the August 23 deadline to disclose their business interests.<\/p>\n
The 2013 Register of Members’ Interests was released during a committee meeting. It lists the business interests, sponsorships, gifts, property, travel, pensions and other financial interests of MPs.<\/p>\n
Parliament’s members’ interests registrar Faziela Mahomed said a further three MPs had not handed in their disclosure forms at all.<\/p>\n
They included two MPs who were ill, and former communications minister Dina Pule, who was suspended from Parliament before the deadline.<\/p>\n
Mahomed recommended to the committee that the three be given an extension to complete their forms.<\/p>\n
The PSAM said the code of conduct allowed for a reprimand, a fine not exceeding 30 days’ salary, a reduction of salary or allowance for not more than 15 days, and the suspension of privileges or a member’s right to a seat in parliamentary debate.<\/p>\n
Pule named and shamed in Parliament<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Pule: \u201cI gave my best, I\u2019m sorry\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Pule implicated in assassination plan: report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n