FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Speaking to party faithful at a divisional conference Sunday evening, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) General Secretary Dr Horace Chang attempted to explain the ruling party’s call for a review of laws governing the body that has raised questions about Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s earnings.

It is normal, said Dr Chang, for periodic assessments to be done and amendments made as needed.

“We have a record of passing legislations, but also reviewing them in time to make them more effective or to take ambiguity out of them. We know we’re not perfect, and no one is perfect. So nobody is trying to diminish the Integrity Commission (IC). All we are saying is we look at the legislation and see if it is really right. That judgment, I will not give you from a platform,” Dr Chang stated.

He cited reviews of the Firearms Act and the modernised Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) (Amendment) Act, 2021, commonly called the anti-gang legislation as examples to prove his point.

“All we are saying is just look at the law as it stands and we leave that to them,” he added.

Last week, the prime minister also called for a review of laws governing the IC to prevent the entity from being politicised.

Holness made the recommendation in a personal statement to Parliament after the IC’s probe into his statutory declarations for the years 2019-2022, along with the ruling of the IC’s director of corruption prosecution (ICDCP), were tabled in the House.

The ICDCP concluded that there was not enough evidence that Holness deliberately sought to mislead the IC when he failed to declare four bank accounts with a combined balance of just under $446,000. It did not charge the prime minister for making a false statement because of the omissions, but the IC raised many questions in its 179-page investigation report about Holness’s business transactions.

While the ICDCP concluded that there was no unexplained growth in the prime minister’s wealth when his assets and liabilities for the year 2021 were examined, note was made of what appeared to be “unexplained growth” in a company set up by Holness. The report said the company’s net worth of just over $1,930,000 “cannot, without more, be justified by his known income and liabilities”.

According to the investigation report, the DI was hindered in his attempt to fully resolve this issue on the basis of Holness’s “refusal” to provide him with a breakdown of his expenses for the period covered by the investigation.

However, in his statement to Parliament, Holness said he rejected that finding, based on materiality and significance.

“While I have not had a chance to fully review the specifics of their calculations, just on a cursory review I have seen an error in figures they have used in their calculations,” he said then.

The Opposition People’s National Party has been strident in its call for Holness to step aside as leader of the country.

But Dr Chang reminded party supporters in Trelawny that it was under the JLP Government, with Holness at the helm, that the IC legislation was passed.

“We don’t call people thief, we don’t run down people and besmirch people character and try to nasty up people character. It’s a small country [and] we want good Government. We passed the law for the contractor general. We, the Labour Party Government, as far back as 1980 something,” he railed.

“The Integrity Commission Act was passed by the labour party. So we believe there should be a good Integrity Commission,” he added.

Dr Chang, who is also deputy prime minister and national security minister, assured supporters that the JLP possesses a strong team to protect their leader legally and politically.

“I’m just saying to you who are out there, [who] have concerns, have confidence in the man who has led us to two successful elections, the first Labour Party leader to take us to two elections in succession, successfully… be confident and be sure he will take you to the third term in short order,” he appealed.

“They may throw darts, they may go further, but we have a strong team. He’s a strong man. [He] was young when he took the job, still young, but he has matured into one of the finest political leaders anywhere in the Caribbean and one of the finest in the history of Jamaica. There is a strong political team. There is a strong legal team with the mind to advise to find the answers and to protect the party leader,” Dr Chang added.