Mash brakes on MPs tax breaks

HAVING last year acquiesced to hefty pay increases, what is the justification for MPs retaining tax breaks for vehicles?

There has been a lot of banter and noise – much of it improper – from politicians about the David Lee case, which collapsed for want of evidence on April 7.

But today we call on all parties to tell us: Will they abolish the system, long seen as inappropriate, which allowed this case to be brought in the first place?

Will they remove, cap or suspend the benefits, sanctioned by the Salaries Review Commission (SRC), that enable public officials to take out loans and acquire pricey cars without paying duties?

Since Mr Lee was charged in 2022, and even up to a few days ago, PNM officials had gleefully cited the case, weaponising it to raise all manner of adverse inferences.

UNC officials, in turn, seized upon the proceedings as proof of PNM prosecution. “Witch hunt,” they said. “Trumped-up charges,” they decried.

Both parties have acted in a completely irresponsible manner. The first in commenting on a matter that was plainly sub judice, the second in undermining confidence in the criminal justice system.

On the latter point, if there has been some nefarious conspiracy, inveigling independent prosecutorial authorities to snare opposition politicians, where is the evidence? A magistrate has thrown out Mr Lee’s case. That outcome itself would appear to be evidence of a lack of collusion.

While the ruling of acting Chief Magistrate Christine Charles may not be the last we hear of this matter given the signals subsequently sent by Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, there is a more fundamental issue that must be addressed.

That issue is not limited to whether the technical components of legal offences such as defrauding the state and misbehaviour in public office apply to certain facts. It is about morality, not just the letter of the law.

Before the steep pay hikes – some as high as 76 per cent and 27 per cent – wrought by the 120th Report of the SRC, it was plausible to defend vehicle benefits.

In a situation in which pay increases had been, for decades, stalled because they were deeply unpopular, car exemptions were an instance of policy by proxy. The SRC regards these measures as falling under “Total Compensation.” They sweeten the public service’s pot.

But such perks are now of dubious merit.

If they were ever justifiable, the way in which they have been over-utilised over the years renders them at odds with the decorum expected of high office.

And by leaving room for mere suspicion of abuse, these exemptions undermine confidence in the very system MPs are meant to serve. They must go.