He gave the impression of having bided his time before letting out his anger towards the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC). He was given the opportunity in Parliament last Wednesday. The Prime minister attacked the commissioner, Navin Beekarry, taking as an excuse the generous budget allocated to the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) - Rs 110 million, which represents a 46% increase and two-thirds of the budget allocated to the whole judiciary. “Enough is enough. We cannot continue to grant a budget of Rs 110 million to the ICAC if it continues to slip up like this.”

A certain number of cabinet ministers think that the ICAC is losing credibility since it grants too much credit to anonymous denunciations. Similarly, they consider that the institution is too quick to demand access to people’s bank accounts.

Paul Bérenger is particularly annoyed with the way the parliamentary committee has been playing its regulating role. It is supposed to make sure the ICAC does a good job. But how can it fulfil such a responsibility when it cannot ensure its own good running. “Unfortunately, the parliamentary committee is not really functioning…” the prime minister pointed out.

The prime minister cannot tolerate that the ICAC absorbs such astronomical funds without giving the expected results in the fight against corruption. Navin Beekarry, as commissioner, earns Rs 275,000 a month. Likewise, his deputies earn Rs 150,000 a month. The prime minister does not question the figures but rather the fact that their work has not justified their salaries so far.

This outburst has had the merit of waking ICAC commissioner Navin Beekarry from his torpor, where the fraud allegations of trade unionist, Jack Bizlall, did not succeed. The commissioner did not deem it necessary to refute the allegations or to give explanations. He remained silent on the issue and has hardly been seen in public.

According to his inner circle, the ICAC commissioner is furious that the government has decided to make public his salary and those of all ICAC employees in a move towards transparency and showing the people where the money goes. Both the government and the opposition are questioning the “excessive expenses” of the commission and the government intends to do everything possible to clarify the matter.

The PM is even considering amendments to the legislation regulating the commission, the Prevention of Corruption Act. “I will inform whom it may concern,” he declared. At first sight, the person concerned could be the president, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, who has up to now shown no inclination to demand more convincing results from Navin Beekarry.

Sir Anerood Jugnauth is, however, the only one who can convene the Appointments’ Committee to deal with the matter but he does not seem to have reasons to take the commissioner to task, unlike many others. The two other members, the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, and the opposition leader, Navin Ramgoolam, have no right to pressurise him.

The amendment could concern the attributions of the committee. Or the government may move for the inclusion of a clause to finetune ICAC’s accountability. Such an amount – Rs 110 million – does not correspond to the work being done by the ICAC. What most annoys the prime minister is that the ICAC has been given the means to do its job, but that results have hardly met expectations.

While Ivan Collendavelloo asserts that the problem with ICAC is “the man” and not the institution as such, we would have expected a concrete measure in that direction. However, the prime minister may feel that the president will not give up and will maintain Navin Beekarry and Racheed Daureeawoo, the president of the parliamentary committee, in their jobs. As a result, he has asked Fred Myers, a foreign expert in money laundering, to suggest ways of making the fight against corruption more effective.

This outburst against the ICAC gave the debate on the budget a lively touch. Otherwise the prime minister and minister of finance concentrated once more on demonstrating what a good job the team has done...

<I>The prime minister is considering amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, the legislation that regulates the commission. They could affect the attributions of the parliamentary committee.</I>