Hon Speaker, our Constitution promotes the concept of unity and diversity and encourages us to be tolerant and to respect one another's cultures, languages, religions and other distinctions.
I intend to initiate a national debate on morality, so that we can better appreciate the values that are shared across the diversity of our cultures. It is an opportunity also to understand those practices and values that are peculiar to certain cultures. The content of the debate and the matters that would be raised during the course of the debate will depend on what is important to the people of this country.
In my view, any discussion of a nation's morality should also promote a culture of adherence to the rule of law, and should strongly condemn the abuse of power in any form, something which we as government promote.
We should also promote a culture of honesty and integrity in all spheres of society. Therefore, the principle we should establish is that no person should be able to derive undue financial benefits from the state, by virtue of the public position they occupy. This applies to elected public representatives and members of the Public Service.
This has been the principle that has guided our efforts over the past 16 years, through legislation and regulations, to prevent the abuse of public funds. We continually examine these measures, and where there are shortcomings, we take steps to address them.
We should be cautious, however, that our efforts to strengthen these provisions do not inadvertently undermine the rights of any citizen to engage in legitimate business activities, including with the state.
We must also be careful not to make sweeping statements that place legitimate business activities in the same basket as those that may be unlawful or unethical. I am certain that in the course of this debate, such distinctions will become clearer, and we will be better equipped as a nation to promote behaviour that we can all agree is ethical and proper.
What has been the problem is that some seem to regard their cultural belief as the only one that is correct, and tend to use this to judge others and impose their value system on them. Where do they get this authority to judge others? Therefore, we need a common conversation to arrive at a commonly shared determination. I thank you, Speaker.