ST. GEORGE'S, GRENADA: Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell has promised to abide by the conclusions of a commission of inquiry investigating his behavior in office though he insists that he did nothing wrong. Mitchell addressed the nation Thursday night, on the eve of the start of commission – making a pitch for nationals to co-operate with the probe and come forward to give evidence. The unprecedented probe ordered by Governor General Sir Daniel Williams has been forced by a public outcry, and pressure from opposition politicians, businessmen and churches following allegations that Prime Minister Mitchell might have received a half million dollar bribe from a German fraudster. On Thursday night, Mitchell again claimed his innocence. “Let me assure you that I will be going before the Commissioner with a clear conscience, safe in the knowledge that I have done nothing wrong,” he said in his address. “I have full faith in the objectivity and independence of the commissioner and I am convinced that when the Commission of Inquiry comes to an end I shall be fully vindicated,” the Grenadian leader added. “I also want to give you the assurance that your government intended to abide by the conclusions of this respected jurists and to abide by whatever conclusions he may make,” he assured. Calling the inquiry “historic”, Mitchell said by allowing the probe, his government is setting a new standard for accountability in office. It is the first time that a sitting Prime Minister is the object of an open inquiry into his conduct in office, and there has been some suggestion that Mitchell should have demitted office while the probe is being conducted. Prime Minister Mitchell has no intentions of doing so, and in his address suggested that larger issues are at stake. “I firmly believe that the office of the Prime Minister is more important than any individual who holds the office …..although your current Prime Minister is in large measure the subject of this inquiry, it is not really Keith Mitchell but the very democracy which we cherish so much that is on trial,” he said. “The type of allegations that have been laid against your Prime Minister is nothing new in West Indian politics, (but) we in Grenada have decided not to allow these allegations to fester,” he added. Dr Mitchell said “a great opportunity has therefore presented itself for us to set our country apart from the rest.” “I urge you therefore to come forward regardless of your political persuasion so that there can be a full airing of all the issues. Now is not a time for partisan politics. Now is a time to put Grenada first,’ he declared. Commissioner Richard Cheltenham is set to outline in details the terms of the commission at a public session Friday, before witnesses are called before the sitting. Opposition politicians have warned that the work of the commission could be undermined unless it is given powers to go overseas to interview key witnesses, including Eric Resteiner, the German fraudster who is reported to have handed the Prime Minister the money in a briefcase during a tape-recorded meeting in Switzerland in 2000. Resteiner is reported to be in a US jail awaiting trial on fraud charges. The Commission will not only investigate Mitchell’s behavior, but also other issues, such as the yardsticks used for appointing foreigners as ambassadors of Grenada, and the way public funds should be handled. SOURCE: CARIBUPDATE.COM