The Commission of Inquiry public hearings into the DFC are scheduled to resume tomorrow, but will they? Tonight, the PUP has issued a formidable challenge to the legitimacy of Chairman David Price. The party says that he is biased; that they have proof of it, and because of that he should step down.
According to a release from the party, Price advised the National Trade Union Congress in its crisis negotiations with the government in the early part of 2005. And, the PUP says he wasn't only generally advising, he was specifically telling the unions how to force the Prime Minister to appoint a commission of inquiry, a commission he would later chair, not as the union representative, but as the chairman agreed to by both sides.
But the PUP has circulated a letter it says is evidence that Price was only working for one side, the unions. They faxed out an unsigned, un-dated letter supposedly from Price to the unions written, presumably, sometime in early 2005. The letter outlines a strategy for securing a forensic auditor, and advises the union how to proceed in negotiations with the Prime Minister for the commission of inquiry.
Well, according to the PUP, it is, "wholly unacceptable that Price could have outlined for the NTUCB strategies on how to get the Prime Minister to agree to the commission of inquiry the, the very same commission he would later be nominated to chair by the NTUCB." The PUP concludes: "having been a key advisor and strategist to one of the parties, it was patently discreditable and wrong for Mr. Price to have allowed himself to be nominated to inquire into the actions of the other party, the government of Belize."
So now if he does not recuse himself, the party's release calls on the Prime Minister, its own leader, to revoke the commission on grounds of bias. And if the Prime Minister does not act, again this is on the demand of his own party, the PUP, presumably independent of its leader, will file legal action to have Price removed.
Of course, the interesting part there is that it seems the Prime Minister is not really with the plan, and the already embattled leader is now being forced into action by the hardline of his party. Proof of that comes in the closing of the release which refers to the inquiry as a political witch hunt against members and supporters of the PUP. It gives an approximation of how much is at stake for the PUP party and government that the party would move so decisively, without the endorsement of its leader to scuttle a process that, as the first day showed, will be unsparing and very likely damning for many high level party friends and functionaries.
And what does Chairman David Price have to say? Well today, he had no comment on his reaction or on whether the letter to the union is real. The only statement he would make was: "the DFC Commission of Inquiry at this time is fully engaged in carrying out its mandate, contained in Statutory Instrument no. 24 of 2005, as far as press releases coming out of political parties are concerned the Commission has no comment." With that we presume, hearings will continue as scheduled tomorrow morning at 9:30 and they will be live on Channel 7.
