Parliament Passes Bill Creating Special Permitgate Investigative Committee
The legislature has given its seal of approval to a draft legislation establishing a special committee for investigating the residence permit scandal.
Eighty-four MPs voted in favor of the committee - not to be confused with the anti-corruption committee which just discussed the actions of the MPs - which would consist of four MPs and four alternates.
The investigative committee will take a broader look at whether political corruption was present, and has the right to subpoena officials, documents and data and the obligation to forward materials to law enforcement bodies if a violation has occurred.
One of the authors of the bill, Social Democrat Andres Anvelt, said at today's sitting that MPs should not even have the semblance of possible corruptive relationship or conflict of interest. "We have to leave the public and our electorate with the clear understanding and sense that we are behave honestly in our everyday activities, and are not playing a two-faced game."
Kristopher Rikken