P.U.P. on Why They Decided to Participate in Committee After All

Eamon Courtenay

They called it a sham. They said it could not possibly, as constituted along party political lines, carry out the all-encompassing independent investigation of the Immigration Department that they wanted. They voted against the motion that brought it into being after introducing a few minor amendments. And they boycotted the first two meetings. But all resistance by the Opposition People’s United Party to the Senate Special Select Committee melted away for reasons that have not been fully explained until now. The party’s pick for membership, Senator Eamon Courtenay, said it was more a matter of not missing out.

Eamon Courtenay, P.U.P. Senator

“First of all remember that it is not a personal decision; it’s a decision of the party and the National Executive met and decided that we should participate. We still have doubts, we still have concerns, but the National Executive believes that it is in the interest of the country that we come, participate and seek to get the information and get to the bottom of this scandal. And so we will participate as long as it is constructive and that we are working in a way that is going to produce something that is going to be useful and cane be acted on. But as I say, it was a decision of the National Executive.”