PNP calls for transparency on Parliament staff departures

The People’s National Party (PNP) has called for an independent investigation and an urgent House Committee meeting following the resignation of Christopher Cowan, deputy clerk to the Houses of Parliament.

According to the PNP, in a release on Friday, Cowan’s resignation is the latest in a “troubling pattern of senior departures that threatens the effective functioning of Jamaica’s Parliament.”

The party said Opposition Leader Mark Golding on September 29 wrote to Jacqueline Mendez, chief personnel officer of the Services Commissions, formally requesting an urgent investigation and independent assessment of the circumstances of the resignation and the wider concerns which have been raised concerning the working environment within the Houses of Parliament. The letter was copied to the governor general, the speaker and the president of the Senate.