Date : 19/03/2014
BRUSSELS, March 19 (KUNA) -- British Member of the European Parliament
(MEP) Dr. Sajjad Karim will chair the first European Parliament ethics
committee meeting Wednesday in the European Parliament.
Speaking to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) ahead of the meeting, he
explained that the five-member committee was formed by the President of the
European Parliament, Martin Schulz, after allegations of corruption against
four MEPS accused of having accepted payments in order to table amendments to
certain legislation in the EP.
"And there fore it became absolutely essential that we as Parliament
internally organize ourselves to ensure that we became much more transparent
than before and that any avenues of corruption were closed," said Karim, the
first and only British Muslim to chair this high level committee.
"We have to make very tough decisions in relation to colleagues and
therefore we need to have our independence and that is why the appointment by
the President of the EP," he noted.
"It is an official committee of the EP and we will continue advising the
President on all relevant cases and if when they arise," he told KUNA.
Noting that European Parliament elections are to be held in May, Karim
added "this means that there is going to be considerable amount of scrutiny on
the activities of MEPs."
British Conservative MEP, Sajjad Karim, is of Pakistani origin and also
Chairman of the Friends of Pakistan group in the EP. (end)
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