PAC to summon Electoral Commissioners

Charlene Stuart, Senior Staff Reporter

Commissioners from the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) are to be summoned to appear before parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to respond to the findings of a damning audit report.

There has been public disagreement between the ECJ and the Auditor General over her department’s information systems review report which raised a number of questions about the affairs of the electoral body.

The ECJ chairman, Professor Errol Miller has said many aspects of the report are gravely misleading.

Today the chairman of the PAC, Audley Shaw said he didn’t want to pre-empt the committee’s work but noted that he is concerned about the divergent views that are emerging.

Shaw says it’s too early to say if the committee will hear from Professor Miller.

Professor Miller is expected to step down from the chairmanship of the ECJ at the end of the year but the irregularities pointed out by the Auditor General’s Department occurred under his stewardship.

Shaw says the tradition is that whoever is at the helm of the organisation at the time of the PAC hearing usually appears before the committee.

Like our new Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/gleanerjamaica

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/JamaicaGleaner

radio@gleanerjm.com