BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 5, 2018– The Senate met today in a special session to consider a number of appointments, but the debate in the Upper House was dominated by the appointment of attorney Deshawn Arzu-Torres to head the Integrity Commission.

As is required by the law, the chairperson of the Integrity Commission must be an attorney with at least 5 years in practice.

Attorney Arzu-Torres takes up the spot of chairperson of the Integrity Commission that became vacant last December when the previous holder of the office, attorney Marilyn Williams, left the post to take up an appointment as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

Apart from asking why the candidate for the very important post on the Integrity Commission had not been brought to the Senate to be questioned, the senator representing the NGO community, Osmany Salas, who is the 13th senator, congratulated the government on the appointment to the important body.

“The Integrity Commission has been without a chair for quite a while. It’s a very important body and so I congratulate government for moving to fill the post of chairperson. Even though the standing orders are silent on this matter, Mr. President, I thought to request as a senate, the upper chamber, we would have the opportunity to interview Mrs. Deshawn Arzu-Torres,” Senator Salas told the Senate.

UDP senator Herbert Panton, however, told the Senate that he can vouch for the integrity of the candidate, because she is a personal friend of his.