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The President of the Committee for Home Affairs has said she has no intention of quitting, despite being "bullied"and "pressurised" into doing so by the States senior committee.
Deputy Mary Lowe has been at the centre of a storm this week surrounding allegations of bullying by her political committee against staff working for Home Affairs.
The claims were made in a report released earlier this week.
Before the report was even released publicly, two members of Home Affairs chose to resign. Deputy Rob Prow and Deputy Richard Graham stood down on Friday last week pre-empting the release of the report with Deputy Prow telling Express a "great injustice" has been done and that he intends to "defend his integrity" from outside Home Affairs.
Speaking collectively earlier this week, the Committee for Home Affairs said the report contained "false assumptions" and "abuses the character and integrity of its members".
Pictured l-r: Deputies Marc Leadbeater, Rob Prow, Mary Lowe, Victoria Oliver and Richard Graham.
Now, the dispute has moved on, with the States senior Committee, Policy & Resources, asking Deputy Lowe to stand down as President of Home Affairs.
P&R has said it "believes it is in the interest of good governance that the President of the Committee for Home Affairs, Deputy Mary Lowe stand down from her role and seek a fresh mandate from the States of Deliberation."
While Deputy Lowe has made it clear to Deputies and the public that "she does not accept the content of the Governance Review Report carried out by Professor Catherine Staite, however she does accept its recommendations. The Policy & Resources Committee has written to Deputy Lowe to express its unanimous view that her position with regard to the Report is incoherent and unsustainable."
P&R said that given two members of Home Affairs have already resigned, their committee "unanimously considers that it is in the best interests of the States, as well as for Deputy Lowe personally, if she step down as President in order, if she so desires, to seek a fresh mandate from the States of Deliberation."
However, Deputy Lowe has said no.
Pictured l-r: Deputies Gavin St Pier, Lyndon Trott, Jonathan Le Tocq, Jane Stephens and Al Brouard.
In a letter responding to P&R's request for her to resign, Deputy Lowe has said it is "difficult to interpret your letter as anything other than an attempt to bully and pressurise me to step down as President of the Committee for Home Affairs.
"I will get straight to the point and confirm that I have no intention of so doing."
She goes on to deny she is acting arrogantly by refusing to stand down, "but rather because the majority of the personal criticisms levelled at me by the report’s author are not backed up by any clear evidence."
Deputy Lowe said she has spoken to the two remaining members of Home Affairs, Deputy Victoria Oliver and Deputy Marc Leadbeater who have her "their total support to stay as President." She said Deputy Richard Graham and Deputy Rob Prow have also both given her their "total support to remain" adding, "furthermore it was the States who appointed me to this position and not the Policy and Resources Committee."
Deputy Lowe's letter can be read in full here.
P&R's letter to Deputy Lowe can be read here.
Pictured: Deputy Mary Lowe.
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