Edghill’s Parliamentary fate on trial this week

Opposition Member of Parliament Juan Edghill will this week appear before the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges (PCP) to determine whether he would be sanctioned in regard to purportedly misleading the House over the true cost of the raise of salary for Ministers and Members of Parliament.
Edghill is slated to appear before the PCP on Wednesday, when its members would begin “consideration of whether the Hon. Juan Edghill, MP, has violated any of the Standing Orders, Customs, Practices and/or Conventions of the National Assembly.”
Edghill’s summons to appear before the PCP was issued on the heels of his damaging expose, made in recent weeks, of massive corruption and deliberate avoidance of the Procurement Act and its accompanying processes — involving billions of taxpayers’ dollars spent by the Administration unlawfully in the health sector, as well as blatant violations of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act in respect to spending by the Ministry of the Presidency and the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic has already publicly lamented what it calls the continuation of the coalition Government’s witch hunting and political vindictive campaign.
Edghill was summoned to appear before the PCP this past month, but the encounter was called off without explanation. The outspoken Opposition Parliamentarian had at the time lamented: “This matter only seems to be arising at special times, with a view of intimidating and harassing…I feel harassed, I feel like I am not being given an adequate opportunity to clear my name as it relates to this matter.”
He was hauled before the Committee after suggesting that the increases in salaries for members of the Executive would take a toll on the treasury to the tune of B annually.
The Committee met on November 25 last, and Edghill presented his arguments in defence of his position.
According to the PPP, the summons was issued on the heels of Edghill’s damaging expose in recent months of massive corruption and deliberate avoidance of the Procurement Act and its accompanying processes, involving billions of taxpayers’ dollars spent by the Administration unlawfully in the health sector, as well as blatant violations of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act in respect to spending by the Ministry of the Presidency and the Office of the Prime Minister.
“We consider the political persecution of Bishop Edghill not only to be an assault on democracy, but an attempt to muzzle him in the discharge of his democratic and constitutional duty as a Member of Parliament, to scrutinise and expose unlawful actions, abuse of power, and lack of transparency on the part of the Government,” the Party said.
The PPP is of the opinion that the nation is aware that muzzling, harassment, intimidation, arrest and charging of parliamentarians, critics and political opponents are all known and well used methods of the People’s National Congress in the past, and are now being continued by the APNU/AFC coalition.