ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Apr 07 2017 – The Antigua and Barbuda Government has dismissed the idea of a Commission of Inquiry into the on-going controversy related to the Brazilian multinational, Odebrecht SA, and the energy company, Petrobras scandal even as the opposition Friday held talks with the Governor General Rodney Williams on the issue.
Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin said the head of state cannot legally set up any Commission of Inquiry, saying “there is nothing in the law as I know it to give the authority to the Governor General to call a Commission of Inquiry.
“It is particularly clear and the case law establishes the fact any Commission of Inquiry must be triggered by the government. It falls under the Commission of Inquiry Act and the government will make preparations for allowances to be paid, places in which it can be convened and the matters contained therein.
“I am a little amazed that it is felt by some that the Governor General is . . . the authority to initiate the inquiry. That is not the law as I know it,” Benjamin said.
The Leader of the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), Harold Lovell, Friday held talks with Williams but the outcome of the deliberations have not been made public. Lovell is meeting with the UPP executive on the matter.
But prior to the meeting, he questioned Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s decision not to open a public inquiry into the Odebrecht scandal.
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